Sensitivity studies of the models of radar-rainfall uncertainties

Abstract

It is well acknowledged that there are large uncertainties associated with the operational quantitative precipitation estimates produced by the U.S. national network of the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D). These errors result from the measurement principles, parameter estimation, and the not fully understood physical processes. Even though comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the total radar-rainfall uncertainties has been the object of earlier studies, an open question remains concerning how the error model results are affected by parameter values and correction setups in the radar-rainfall algorithms. This study focuses on the effects of different exponents in the reflectivity-rainfall (Z-R) relation [Marshall-Palmer, default Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), and tropical] and the impact of an anomalous propagation removal algorithm. To address this issue, the authors apply an empirically based model in which the relation between true rainfall and radar rainfall could be described as the product of a systematic distortion function and a random component. Additionally, they extend the error model to describe the radar-rainfall uncertainties in an additive form. This approach is fully empirically based, and rain gauge measurements are considered as an approximation of the true rainfall. The proposed results are based on a large sample (6 yr) of data from the Oklahoma City radar (KTLX) and processed through the Hydro-NEXRAD software system. The radar data are complemented with the corresponding rain gauge observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet and the Agricultural Research Service Micronet. © 2010 American Meteorological Society.