Spatial variability of rainfall: Variations within a single radar pixel

As a part of a Local Area Weather Radar (LAWR) calibration exercise 15 km south of Århus, Denmark, the variability in accumulated rainfall within a single radar pixel (500 by 500 m) was measured using nine high-resolution rain gauges. The measured values indicate up to a 100% variation between neighbouring rain gauges within the pixel over a 4-day period.     

Evaluation of TMPA satellite-based research and real-time rainfall estimates during six tropical-related heavy rainfall events over Louisiana, USA

This study focuses on the evaluation of 3-hourly 0.25° × 0.25° satellite-based rainfall estimates produced by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA). The evaluation is performed during six heavy rainfall events that were generated by tropical storms passing over Louisiana, United States. Two surface-based rainfall datasets from gauge and radar observations are used as a ground reference for evaluating the real-time (RT) version of the TMPA product and the post-real-time bias adjusted research version. The evaluation analysis is performed at the native temporal and spatial scales of the TMPA products, 3-hourly and 0.25° × 0.25°. Several graphical and statistical techniques are applied to characterize the deviation of the TMPA estimates from the reference datasets. Both versions of the TMPA products track reasonably well the temporal evolution and fluctuations of surface rainfall during the analyzed storms with moderate to high correlation values of 0.5–0.8. The TMPA estimates reported reasonable levels of rainfall detection especially when light rainfall rates are excluded. On a storm scale, the TMPA products are characterized by varying degrees of bias which was mostly within ± 25% and ± 50% for the research and RT products, respectively. Analysis of the error distribution indicated that, on average, the TMPA products tend to overestimate small rain rates and underestimate large rain rates. Compared to the real-time estimates, the research product shows significant improvement in the overall and conditional bias, and in the correlation coefficients, with slight deterioration in the probability of detecting rainfall occurrences. A fair agreement in terms of reproducing the tail of the distribution of rain rates (i.e., probability of surface rainfall exceeding certain thresholds) was observed especially for the RT estimates. Despite the apparent differences with surface rainfall estimates, the results reported in this study highlight the TMPA potential as a valuable resource of high-resolution rainfall information over many areas in the world that lack capabilities for monitoring landfalling tropical storms.     

Relationships between air mass properties and mesoscale rainfall in New Zealand's Southern Alps

This paper identifies relationships between air mass properties and mesoscale rainfall when moist air blows over New Zealand's Southern Alps from the Tasman Sea. Around 50% of the variance in six-hourly rain volumes summed across three separate cross-mountain raingauge transects and in six-hourly rain volume spilling across the alpine divide are statistically explained by the following properties of the approaching air mass: relative humidity, wind velocity normal to the mountains, air mass stability and synoptically induced upward motion. These factors also explain about 25% (r≈0.5) of the variance in the downwind distance reached by the spillover rainfall. For the highest 10% of six-hourly rainfalls, spillover distance and magnitude are negatively correlated with the 700 or 500 hPa temperature. Multiple linear regression equations suitable for predicting rainfall intensity and spillover are developed. A progression is described in the magnitude and depth of vertical motion and resulting condensation rates over the mountains as the properties of the incoming air mass evolve through a storm. These changes, together with greater downwind advection of ice particles compared to raindrops, explain the observed statistical relationships between the air mass properties and mountain rainfall.     

South Australian rainfall variability and climate extremes

Rainfall extremes over South Australia are connected with broad-scale atmospheric rearrangements associated with strong meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in the eastern Indian Ocean. Thirty-seven years of winter radiosonde data is used to calculate a time series of precipitable water (PW) and convective available potential energy (CAPE) in the atmosphere. Principle component analysis on the parameters of CAPE and PW identify key modes of variability that are spatially and seasonally consistent with tropospheric processes over Australia. The correlation of the leading principle component of winter PW to winter rainfall anomalies reveal the spatial structure of the northwest cloudband and fronts that cross the southern half of the continent during winter. Similarly the second and third principle components, respectively, reveal the structures of the less frequent northern and continental cloudbands with remarkable consistency. 850 hPa-level wind analysis shows that during dry seasons, anomalous offshore flow over the northwest of Australia inhibits advection of moisture into the northwest, while enhanced subsidence from stronger anticyclonic circulation over the southern half of the continent reduces CAPE. This coincides with a southward shift of the subtropical ridge resulting in frontal systems passing well to the south of the continent, thus producing less frequent interaction with moist air advected from the tropics. Wet winters are the reverse, where a weaker meridional pressure gradient to the south of the continent allows rain-bearing fronts to reach lower latitudes. The analysis of SSTs in the Indian Ocean indicate that anomalous warm (cool) waters in the southeast Indian Ocean coincide with a southward (northward) shift in the subtropical ridge during dry (wet) seasons.     

Analysis of rainfall variability over Tanzania in late austral summer

利用站点观测资料和再分析资料,采用相关分析,Morlet小波功率谱分析和复合分析等方法,研究了 1961-2011年南半球夏季后期(1-3月)坦桑尼亚降水的年际变化特征,并探讨了相关的大气环流和海温异常情况,以及坦桑尼亚干,湿年发生的机制.研究结果表明:坦桑尼亚1-3月降水变化存在显著的2-8年的年际变化周期和8-12...     

A possible linkage in the interdecadal variability of rainfall over North China and the Sahel

1. Introduction The capital city of China, Beijing, and other largecities, such as Tianjin and Shijiazhuang are all locatedin North China (roughly the region 35?–40?N, 110?–125?E), a region with a very large population. In thepast several decades, the rainfall decreased remarkablyin North China. Nevertheless, the amount of waterdemanded by agriculture and industry and the popu-lation at large has increased. These two trends havemade the de?ciency of water resources in North Chinabeco…     

联合雷达网和卫星定量监测与预报长江流域大范围降水

在吸取欧洲国际雷达网以及英国NIMROD系统先进经验的基础上,根据我国实情,以长江中游数字化雷达网和GMS卫星为主要技术手段,并结合数值风场预报,研制成大范围降水实时定量监测和预报的自动化系统LARORAS。研究成功定量测估长江流域大范围降水累积量的实时处理技术,其产品对防汛抗洪和大型水库工程建设具有重大应用价值。     

Influence of spatial and temporal scales on statistical analyses of rainfall variability in the River Nile basin

In this study, empirical orthogonal function was applied to analyze rainfall variability in the Nile basin based on various spatio-temporal scales. The co-occurrence of rainfall variability and the variation in selected climate indices was analyzed based on various spatio-temporal scales. From the highest to the lowest, the cumulative amount of variance explained by the first two principal components (PCs) for any selected size of the spatial domain was obtained for the annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall series respectively. The variability in the annual rainfall of 1° × 1° spatial coverage explained by only the first PC was about 55% on average. However, this percentage reduced to about 40% on average across the study area when the size of the spatial domain was increased from 1° × 1° to 10° × 10°. The variation in climate indices was shown to explain rainfall variability more suitably at a regional than location-specific spatial scale. The magnitudes and sometimes signs of the correlation between rainfall variability and the variation in climate indices tended to vary from one time scale to another. These findings are vital in the selection of spatial and temporal scales for more considered attribution of rainfall variability across the study area.     

从小时尺度考察中国中东部极端降水的持续性和季节特征

相对于日降水量,小时尺度降水资料可以更准确地反映降水强度并描述降水过程,因而更适用于极端降水阈值确定及其特性研究.利用广义极值分布估计中国321个站最大小时降水量的分布函数,确定了5a重现期的小时降水强度阈值.阈值的空间分布呈现出明显的地域差异,西北地区阈值偏低,华北地区、长江中下游地区、华南沿海地区和四川盆地西部地区为高阈值中心.取各站5a一遇极端降水事件对其持续性特征和季节特征进行分析,发现在沿海地区、长江流域和青藏高原东坡极端降水事件的平均持续时间较长(超过12h);中国北部地区持续时间较短.在具有较大海拔落差的复杂地形区,极端降水事件较平原地区更快地发展到峰值.华南地区4月就可有极端降水事件出现,而中国北方地区要到6月底才出现极端降水;全中国大部分地区的年最晚极端降水在8-9月,但沿海地区、大陆南端和西南地区南部的少数站点在10月以后仍有极端降水发生.     

Intraseasonal oscillation of the rainfall variability over Rwanda and evaluation of its subseasonal forecasting skill

非洲中东部地区的经济主要依靠自给农业支撑,该地区农业经济对降水的变化尤为敏感.本文以卢旺达为例,观测分析指出卢旺达的次季节降雨主要集中在10-25天;根据次季节尺度降水变率的单点相关方法,发现卢旺达的次季节降水变率和周围区域变化一致;进一步合成结果显示该地区次季节降水变率与异常西风有关,这可追溯到赤道地区西传的赤道Rossby波.最后,本文评估了当前动力模式ECMWF对 卢旺达地区(即非洲中东部)次季节降水变率的预报能力,发现EC模式在对该区域降水和相关风场指数的预报技巧都在18天左右,且预报技巧表现出一定的年际差异,这可能与热带太平洋的背景海温信号有关.该工作增进了当 前对非洲中东部地区的次季节降水变率和预测水平的认知,并且对该地区国家粮食安全和防灾减灾具有启示性意义.     

Some Unique Characteristics of Atmospheric Interannual Variability in Rainfall Time Series over India and the United Kingdom

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基于格点降水场的中国东部冬季降水变化特征

采用1958-2007年国家级2419地面台站0.5°×0.5°格点降水场和NCEP/NCAR月平均再分析资料,对中国东部冬季降水量变化及对应的大气环流变化特征进行研究。结果表明：冬季近50 a降水量时间序列表现出明显的长期气候变化趋势。20世纪90年代降水较多,大气水汽充足, 60、70年代相反,这种特征反映出水汽在东亚地区输送的强弱及从海洋输入中国大陆水汽的多寡。降水量强弱年差值合成的异常降水量可达40 mm以上。降水量与水汽收支时间序列的相关系数为0.605。水汽收支与降水场的回归系数揭示了长江流域以南地区为异常大值区。降水量强年,冬季风偏弱,对流层低层和高层为异常气旋式环流,低层盛行异常偏南风,孟加拉湾、南海异常暖湿水汽输送到中国东部地区,中国东部近海海温偏高,配合加强的异常垂直上升运动,有利于水汽的增加,造成降水量增加。     

Misspecification of extreme rainfall population statistics and frequency inference due to measurement bias and variability

Statistical analysis of rainfall extremes is mostly based on the assumption of error-free data, despite common knowledge about the widespread incidence of precipitation measurement bias and variability. The objective of this study is primarily to investigate the impact of measurement bias and variability in statistical classification and quantile estimates of rainfall extremes. A theoretical framework is presented for the analysis of moment coefficients and probability distributions for rainfall extremes corrupted by measurement bias and variability. Furthermore, methods are outlined for practical statistical analysis of error-corrupted rainfall extremes, based on maximum likelihood. Frequency inference and testing for the presence of measurement variability are the main topics. Modelling of data series is undertaken in order to exemplify the statistical assessment and the real-life impact of measurement error.It is shown that: (a) unaccounted measurement error may potentially cause a considerable degree of misspecification about the conventional moment and L-moment coefficients of variation, and the conventional moments of skewness and kurtosis; (b) the presence of measurement variability alone can cause significant and nonlinear quantile bias which further strongly increases with the additional presence of measurement bias; and (c) maximum likelihood estimation provides a general and efficient tool for assessing measurement error in extreme rainfall frequency analysis.     

SVD分析揭示的澳大利亚高压年际变化对中国夏季降水的可能影响

澳大利亚高压是东亚夏季风系统的重要成员之一,其对中国夏季气候存在显著影响.为了进一步弄清年际时间尺度上的澳大利亚高压变化对中国东部夏季降水的影响,利用澳大利哑海平面气压和中国夏季降水站点资料,使用SVD和线性回归方法揭示了澳大利亚高压的年际变化与中国夏季降水异常的联系,得到:SVD的第1模态的时间系数与通常使用的澳大利亚高压指数相关可达到0.98.在有无考虑ENSO的影响时,SVD的第1模态均反映出澳大利亚高压的年际变化与中国江南地区夏季降水存在密切联系,也即澳大利亚高压增强(减弱)时,江南地区降水增多(减少).澳大利亚高压对中国夏季降水的可能影响途径为:澳大利哑高压通过影响赤道纬向气流和越赤道气流并通过类似PJ波列的方式影响到中国东部地区:澳大利亚高压增强时,造成西太平洋副热带高压偏南、偏西,同时,105°E处越赤道气流显著加强,为江南地区提供充足水汽源,利于中国江南地区降水;澳大利亚高压减弱时,情况相反;在强(弱)澳大利哑高压年,印度尼西亚及热带辐合带海区SSTA负(正)异常使得低层风场的异常辐散(辐合),激发了澳大利哑南部以及西太平洋地区异常反气旋(气旋)环流,同时江南地区出现异常辐合(辐散),引起大气异常上升(下沉)运动,有利于中国江南地区夏季降水异常偏多(偏少).     

城市化进程对北京地区降水的影响分析

用北京20个基本气象站1978—2009年的日降水观测资料以及北京地区水文总站遍布全市的82个雨量站资料,讨论了北京地区降水分布的特征及其城市效应的影响。得到如下结论：（1）北京地区降水量的贡献以中雨以上降水为主。30多年来各级降水除了中雨趋势不明显以外,其他都呈现减小趋势。北京地区降雨量的减少,主要是由于大雨以上量级雨量减少所造成的。（2）近30 a来整个区域降水日数呈减少趋势：西部、西北部及北部山区降水日数较多,越靠近城区降水日数越少。（3）当大尺度降水系统较弱或者局地性强降水系统时,城市效应明显,即相对于区域平均而言,城区及下风方局地降雨增加;而大尺度天气系统较强时,城市效应基本被掩盖。（4）从强降水分布看,1980s以后随着城市化进城加快,短时强降雨局地性特征明显,降雨分布不均,降雨中心的面积和强度明显缩小。这种分布可以在城市热岛分布特征上得到一些合理的解释。     

Modeling distribution of temporal sampling errors in area-time-averaged rainfall estimates

In this paper, the authors examine models of probability distributions for sampling error in rainfall estimates obtained from discrete satellite sampling in time based on 5 years of 15-min radar rainfall data in the central United States. The sampling errors considered include all combinations of 3, 6, 12, or 24 h sampling of rainfall over 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 km square domains, and 1, 5, or 30 day rainfall accumulations. Results of this study reveal that the sampling error distribution depends strongly on the rain rate; hence the conditional distribution of sampling error is more informative than its marginal distribution. The distribution of sampling error conditional on rain rate is strongly affected by the sampling interval. At sampling intervals of 3 or 6 h, the logistic distribution appears to fit the conditional sampling error quite well, while the shifted-gamma, shifted-weibull, shifted-lognormal, and normal distributions fit poorly. At sampling intervals of 12 or 24 h, the shifted-gamma, shifted-weibull, or shifted-lognormal distribution fit the conditional sampling error better than the logistics or normal distribution. These results are vital to understanding the accuracy of satellite rainfall products, for performing validation assessment of these products, and for analyzing the effects of rainfall-related errors in hydrological models.     

Comparison of the Bright Band Characteristics Measured by Micro Rain Radar （MRR） at a Mountain and a Coastal Site in South Korea

Data from a long term measurement of Micro Rain Radar (MRR) at a mountain site (Daegwallyeong,DG, one year period of 2005) and a coastal site (Haenam, HN, three years 2004–2006) in South Korea were analyzed to compare the MRR measured bright band characteristics of stratiform precipitation at the two sites. On average, the bright band was somewhat thicker and the sharpness (average gradient of reflectivity above and below the reflectivity peak) was slightly weaker at DG, compared to those values at HN. The ...     

Statistical evaluation of a radar rainfall system for sewer system management

Urban areas are faced with mounting demands for managing waste and stormwater for a cleaner environment. Rainfall information is a critical component in efficient management of urban drainage systems. A major water quality impact affecting receiving waterbodies is the discharge of untreated waste and stormwater during precipitation, termed wet weather flow. Elimination or reduction of wet weather flow in metropolitan sewer districts is a major goal of environmental protection agencies and often requires considerable capital improvements. Design of these improvements requires accurate rainfall data in conjunction with monitored wastewater flow data. Characterizing the hydrologic/hydraulic performance of the sewer using distant rain gauges can cause oversizing and wasted expenditures. Advanced technology has improved our ability to measure accurately rainfall over large areas. Weather radar, when combined with rain gauge measurements, provides detailed information concerning rainfall intensities over specific watersheds. Knowing how much rain fell over contributing areas during specific periods aids in characterizing inflow and infiltration to sanitary and combined sewers, calibration of sewer system models, and in operation of predictive real-time control measures. Described herein is the design of a system for managing rainfall information for sewer system management, along with statistical analysis of 60 events from a large metropolitan sewer district. Analysis of the lower quartile rainfall events indicates that the expected average difference is 25.61%. Upper quartile rainfall events have an expected average difference of 17.25%. Rain gauge and radar accumulations are compared and evaluated in relation to specific needs of an urban application. Overall, the events analyzed agree to within ± 8% based on the median average difference between gauge and radar.     

Effects of the southern oscillation on the probability for climatic categories of monthly rainfall, in a semi-arid region in the southern mid-latitudes

In many regions of the world, planning agricultural and water management activities is usually done based on probabilities for monthly rainfall, taking on values on specified intervals of values. These intervals of monthly rainfall amounts are commonly grouped into three categories: drought, normal rainfall, and abundant rainfall. Changes in the probabilities for occurrence of monthly rainfall amounts within these climatic rainfall categories will influence the decisions farmers and water managers will take (for example, crops to cultivate, flood preparedness, and operations of water reservoirs). This research explores the changes produced by the SO (Southern Oscillation) on the probability that the areal average of monthly rainfall (AAvMR) takes on values belonging to specified climatic rainfall categories. The semi-arid region under study is a major agricultural region in central Argentina; weather effects on agriculture in this region influence the world market of several crops. The evolution of the Southern Oscillation was divided into three phases: LSOI (low Southern Oscillation index phase, that includes ENSO events), NSOI (neutral SOI phase), and HSOI (high SOI phase that includes La Niña–SO events). The following are the criteria defining the three phases of the SO: (1) low SOI (ENSO), where the five-month moving average of the SO index, SOI, is less than −0.5 standard deviation during at least five consecutive months, and is equal to or less than −1 standard deviation during at least one month; (2) high SOI (La Niña–SO), where the SOI is greater than 0.5 standard deviation during at least five consecutive months, and is equal to or greater than 1 standard deviation during at least one month; and (3) neutral SOI (transition between extremes), where the SOI does not correspond to low SOI nor to high SOI. It was found that the Southern Oscillation influences the probability distribution of monthly rainfall only in four months of the year. Findings show that monthly rainfall has a complex response to the evolution of the SO. The response is not restricted to higher probability for occurrence of abundant rainfall or drought categories during low SOI (ENSO) or high SOI (La Niña–SO) episodes, respectively. The LSOI (ENSO) phase influences the AAvMR in several ways: depending on the month, it increases or decreases the probability of the abundant rainfall category. LSOI (ENSO) also increases or decreases, depending on the month, the probability of the normal rainfall category. It also decreases the probability that AAvMR takes on values in the drought category. A similar kind of complex response of monthly rainfall amounts occurs when the active phase is the HSOI (La Niña–SO). The responses are: (1) the probability of the category `drought' increases only in three months of the year, (2) increase or decrease of the probability of the normal rainfall category, depending on the month, and (3) decrease of the probability of the abundant rainfall category. Finally, the effects of NSOI (neutral phase of the SO) are not negligible. Depending on the month, NSOI episodes increase or decrease the probability of drought, or abundant rainfall, or normal rainfall categories.     

2010年7月31日吉林省东南部短时强降水过程分析

利用吉林省加密站实时观测资料、NCEP 1°×1°再分析资料和吉林省白山观测站多普勒雷达等资料,对2010 年7月31日吉林省东南部的短时强降水天气过程进行初步分析。结果表明：500hPa平直锋区上短波扰动出现往往伴随强对流天气的发生;上冷下暖的热力垂直结构有利于低层辐合抬升;当风场引起的辐合抬升仅存在于底层时降水不会发生,故更需关注整层风场的结构变化;强降水水汽来自于暴雨区前期降水的积累,缺外来水汽的持续输送是此次强降水历时短的主要原因之一;小股冷空气入侵高温高湿气团是导致不稳定能量释放的主要原因,强降水落区对应于冷空气侵入高能区位置,强降水时段对应K指数由极大值减小的过程;多普勒雷达资料中雷达回波的强度和缺口、径向速度的强度和零线形状、以及逆风区对预报短时强降水具有很好的指示意义。