A method for real-time temporal disaggregation of blended radar–rain gauge precipitation fields

Abstract

A fully automated quasi-real-time method is presented to disaggregate hourly to sub-hourly precipitation information operationally in a blended radar–rain gauge product. The method proposes a fully automated solution to disaggregate precipitation in regions characterized by measurement errors or partial absence of auxiliary information on the temporal precipitation evolution. The solution relies on a combination of low-pass filtered radar information and stochastically generated noise fields. A comprehensive validation of the new method is provided demonstrating higher skill compared to a uniform disaggregation in time. The method is now an integral part of CombiPrecip, the official operational code of MeteoSwiss for radar–rain gauge merging.