An Integrated Method of Multiradar Quantitative Precipitation Estimation Based on Cloud Classification and Dynamic Error Analysis

Abstract

Relationships between radar reflectivity factor and rainfall are different in various precipitation cloud systems. In this study, the cloud systems are firstly classified into five categories with radar and satellite data to improve radar quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) algorithm. Secondly, the errors of multiradar QPE algorithms are assumed to be different in convective and stratiform clouds. The QPE data are then derived with methods of Z-R, Kalman filter (KF), optimum interpolation (OI), Kalman filter plus optimum interpolation (KFOI), and average calibration (AC) based on error analysis on the Huaihe River Basin. In the case of flood on the early of July 2007, the KFOI is applied to obtain the QPE product. Applications show that the KFOI can improve precision of estimating precipitation for multiple precipitation types.