Quality-based generation of weather radar Cartesian products

Abstract

Weather radar data volumes are commonly processed to obtain various 2-D Cartesian products based on the transfer from polar to Cartesian representations through a certain interpolation method. In this research an algorithm of the spatial interpolation of polar reflectivity data employing quality index data is applied to find the Cartesian reflectivity as plan position indicator products. On this basis, quality-based versions of standard algorithms for the generation of the following products have been developed: ETOP (echo top), MAX (maximum of reflectivity), and VIL (vertically integrated liquid water). Moreover, as an example of a higher-level product, a CONVECTION (detection of convection) has been defined as a specific combination of the above-listed standard products. A corresponding quality field is determined for each generated product, taking into account the quality of the pixels from which a given product was determined and how large a fraction of the investigated heights was scanned. Examples of such quality-based products are presented in the paper.