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A comparison of TRMM to other basin-scale estimates of rainfall during the 1999 Hurricane Floyd flood

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Abstract

The volumetric rainfall attributed to Hurricane Floyd in 1999 was computed for the bulk of the Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear River Basins in eastern North Carolina, USA from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) research product, and compared with volumes computed using kriged gauge data and one centrally located radar. TMPA showed similar features in the band of heaviest rainfall with kriged and radar data, but was higher in the basin-scale integrations. Furthermore, Floyd’s direct runoff volumes were computed and divided by the volumetric rainfall estimates to give runoff coefficients for the three basins. The TMPA, having the larger storm totals, would suggest greater infiltration during Floyd than the gauge and radar estimates would. Finally, we discuss a concept for adjusting the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service rainfall-runoff model when predicting discharge values from real-time TMPA in ungauged river basins.

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Notes

  1. A few spurious low rainfall totals located near the position of the radar (cone of silence) were ignored.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Wen-Chieh Chou and one anonymous reviewer for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Natural Hazards Research, Department of Geography, East Carolina University, Brewster A-232, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Scott Curtis, Thomas W. Crawford & Scott A. Lecce

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  1. Scott Curtis
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  2. Thomas W. Crawford
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  3. Scott A. Lecce
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Correspondence to Scott Curtis.

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Curtis, S., Crawford, T.W. & Lecce, S.A. A comparison of TRMM to other basin-scale estimates of rainfall during the 1999 Hurricane Floyd flood. Nat Hazards 43, 187–198 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-006-9093-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-006-9093-y

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