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Uncertainties in rainfall retrievals from ground-based weather radar: overview, case study, and simulation experiment
1Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
2Laboratoire d’étude des Transferts en Hydrologie et Environnement (LTHE), Grenoble, France
Abstract. Because rainfall constitutes the main source of water for the terrestrial hydrological processes, accurate and reliable measurement and prediction of its spatial and temporal distribution over a wide range of scales is an important goal for hydrology. We investigate the potential of ground-based weather radar to provide such measurements through a detailed analysis of the associated observation uncertainties. First, a historical perspective on measuring the space-time distribution of rainfall, from the rain gauge to the radar era, is presented. Subsequently, we provide an overview of the various errors and uncertainties affecting radar rainfall retrievals. As an example, we present a case study of the relation between measurements from an operational C-band weather radar and a network of tipping bucket rain gauges as a function of range. Finally, a recently developed stochastic model of range profiles of rainfall microstructure is employed in a simulation experiment designed to investigate the rainfall retrieval uncertainties associated with weather radars operating in different widely used frequency bands.
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Citation: Uijlenhoet, R., van der Wielen, S. H., and Berne, A.: Uncertainties in rainfall retrievals from ground-based weather radar: overview, case study, and simulation experiment, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 3, 2385-2436, 2006. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
