Fog collection in the western Mediterranean basin (Valencia region, Spain)

Four different mountainous locations were selected in the Valencia region, East coast of the Iberian Peninsula, for fog water collection studies. Data for 2004 were obtained by means of an instrument ensemble consisting essentially of a passive cylindrical fog water collector, a raingauge, a wind direction and velocity sensor and a temperature and humidity probe. An approximate data reduction technique was also found for this specific ensemble to eliminate the simultaneous rain water component from the fog water measurements. Main results indicate that fog water collection holds significant potential in this region, and especially for southern locations. Annual rates of fog water yield can be as high as 7.0 l/m²/day in the southern locations, in contrast to 2.0 l/m²/day collected at one site in a northern location. The highest summer fog water yield was 4.6 l/m²/day, a relatively large value. Except for the summer period, fog episodes delivering sizeable water volumes are inherently coupled to rainfall. Hourly frequencies of fog collection were also examined to show a distinct daily cycle in summer, denoting orographic fog formation during this period. Lastly, winds were analysed to resolve the most suitable directions for fog collector alignment.     

运用人工神经网络作汛期降水预报

本文提出汛期降水预报的人工神经网络方法，并选择一组标样进行了具体分析，预报成功率达100％，结果表明，该方法性能良好，可望成为汛期降水预报的有效手段。     

Characteristics of precipitation in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature

This paper deals with the periodic fluctuation of precipitation at three meteorological stations (Atar, Chenguitti, and Akjoujt) in the Adrar and Inchiri provinces in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature (SST). Trends for these three meteorological stations were evaluated using the Mann–Kendall (MK) nonparametric test, regression analysis, and autocorrelation for persistence analysis. The MK test showed a significant decreasing trend for Akjoujt and an insignificant trend for the other rainfall time series. However, the decreasing linear regression trends were highly significant for the different time series. On the other hand, persistence analysis indicated the presence of a linear Markov type. The cycles found by power spectrum analysis ranged from 0.5 years to about 11 years. The possibility of a connection between precipitation in this region and sunspot numbers was suggested. SST of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea have significant cross-correlations with precipitation in the study area. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect was found to be marginal.     

Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California

Debris flows generated during rain storms on recently burned areas have destroyed lives and property throughout the Western U.S. Field evidence indicate that unlike landslide-triggered debris flows, these events have no identifiable initiation source and can occur with little or no antecedent moisture. Using rain gage and response data from five fires in Colorado and southern California, we document the rainfall conditions that have triggered post-fire debris flows and develop empirical rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for the occurrence of debris flows and floods following wildfires in these settings. This information can provide guidance for warning systems and planning for emergency response in similar settings.Debris flows were produced from 25 recently burned basins in Colorado in response to 13 short-duration, high-intensity convective storms. Debris flows were triggered after as little as six to 10 min of storm rainfall. About 80% of the storms that generated debris flows lasted less than 3 h, with most of the rain falling in less than 1 h. The storms triggering debris flows ranged in average intensity between 1.0 and 32.0 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows sufficiently large to pose threats to life and property from recently burned areas in south-central, and southwestern, Colorado are defined by: I = 6.5D^− 0.7 and I = 9.5D^− 0.7, respectively, where I = rainfall intensity (in mm/h) and D = duration (in hours).Debris flows were generated from 68 recently burned areas in southern California in response to long-duration frontal storms. The flows occurred after as little as two hours, and up to 16 h, of low-intensity (2–10 mm/h) rainfall. The storms lasted between 5.5 and 33 h, with average intensities between 1.3 and 20.4 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for life- and property-threatening floods and debris flows during the first winter season following fires in Ventura County, and in the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of southern California are defined by I = 12.5D^−0.4, and I = 7.2D^−0.4, respectively. A threshold defined for flood and debris-flow conditions following a year of vegetative recovery and sediment removal for the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of I = 14.0D^−0.5 is approximately 25 mm/h higher than that developed for the first year following fires.The thresholds defined here are significantly lower than most identified for unburned settings, perhaps because of the difference between extremely rapid, runoff-dominated processes acting in burned areas and longer-term, infiltration-dominated processes on unburned hillslopes.     

DSC2型称重式降水传感器测雨性能的分析

为更有效地利用降雨观测数据,充分发挥新型探测设备建设效益,文章对DS(2型称重降水传感器的测雨性能进行分析评估,选取北京市13个国家级地面气象观测站在2013年4—10月,称重式降水传感器与人工、翻斗观测降雨量的业务观测资料,分析称重与人工和翻斗观测在降雨总量、日降雨量等方面的差异。结果表明:在选取样本中,12个台站的总降雨量误差符合现行业务要求,三种测量在日降雨量等级判断方面基本一致。称重比人工观测的日降雨量平均偏小0.13 mm,日降雨量相关系数为0.9968,对应地,称重比翻斗观测的结果平均偏小0.17 mm,日降雨量相关系数为0.9983。     

准全球陆表干旱严重程度的多传感器遥感监测方法研究

在全球气候变暖的背景下,持续的干旱事件将对生态系统和人类社会产生不利影响。尽管存在多源卫星遥感资料及多种干旱指数,然而区域和全球尺度干旱事件的监测仍具有挑战。采用TRMM（Tropical RainfallMeasuring Mission）数据量化降水异常、MODIS（Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer）归一化植被指数（Normalized Difference Vegetation Index,NDVI）和陆表温度（Land Surface Temperature,LST）数据表征植被生长异常,构建了一种兼顾降水异常和植被生长状况异常的多传感器陆表干旱严重程度指数（Multi-sensorsDrought Severity Index,MDSI）。结果表明:MDSI 能够准确检测准全球范围（50°S～50°N,0°～180°～0°）的气象干旱事件,如亚马逊流域2005 和2010 年干旱、中国川渝地区2006 年干旱、中国云南2010 年干旱、非洲东部2011 年干旱、2012 年美国中部干旱等;MDSI 与PDSI（Palmer Drought Severity Index）呈现出大致相同的干湿空间格局,并且MDSI 有助于湿润地区干旱程度的检测。     

基于晴空阈值法的全天空红外图像云量计算

为提高新疆戈壁地区云的自动化观测水平,基于全天空红外成像仪(WSIRCMS)获取的红外辐射图像,利用辐射传输模式SBDART分析了仪器测量波段对有云无云状况的敏感性并构建了拟合方程,同时利用典型季节的晴空辐射样本拟合了晴空曲线并统计形成了晴空阈值,最后利用统计晴空阈值对全天空红外辐射图像进行云像素识别和总云量计算。将不同季节总云量计算结果同人工观测结果对比验证表明：观测时段算法计算总云量和人工观测总云量差值在±2成以下的概率均在80%以上,说明该方法具有较高的准确度和较强的实用性,在观测业务中具有较好的应用前景。     

Improving the accuracy of tipping-bucket rain records using disaggregation techniques

We present a methodology able to infer the influence of rainfall measurement errors on the reliability of extreme rainfall statistics. We especially focus on systematic mechanical errors affecting the most popular rain intensity measurement instrument, namely the tipping-bucket rain-gauge (TBR). Such uncertainty strongly depends on the measured rainfall intensity (RI) with systematic underestimation of high RIs, leading to a biased estimation of extreme rain rates statistics. Furthermore, since intense rain-rates are usually recorded over short intervals in time, any possible correction strongly depends on the time resolution of the recorded data sets. We propose a simple procedure for the correction of low resolution data series after disaggregation at a suitable scale, so that the assessment of the influence of systematic errors on rainfall statistics become possible. The disaggregation procedure is applied to a 40-year long rain-depth dataset recorded at hourly resolution by using the IRP (Iterated Random Pulse) algorithm. A set of extreme statistics, commonly used in urban hydrology practice, have been extracted from simulated data and compared with the ones obtained after direct correction of a 12-year high resolution (1 min) RI series. In particular, the depth–duration–frequency curves derived from the original and corrected data sets have been compared in order to quantify the impact of non-corrected rain intensity measurements on design rainfall and the related statistical parameters. Preliminary results suggest that the IRP model, due to its skill in reproducing extreme rainfall intensities at fine resolution in time, is well suited in supporting rainfall intensity correction techniques.     

Application of the hydrologic visibility concept to estimate rainfall measurement quality of two planned weather radars

This paper presents a practical application of the “hydrologic visibility” concept to select the future site of two planned weather radars of the French national network ARAMIS. This selection was realised by simulating the errors in radar rainfall measurement due to interactions of the radar beam with relief, and to the vertical variation of the radar reflectivity with altitude. Results show the interest of these simulations to optimise the radar location according to the objectives of radar coverage. Beyond these results, this paper highlights aspects interesting for hydrology: this type of simulation can be used to assess the radar measurement quality before initiating a quantitative exploitation of radar data, and before making a comparison or a combination with rain gauge data.     

多部雷达联合估算淮河流域降水

以淮河流域内6部CINRAD雷达基数据资料以及高密度自动雨量站观测资料为源,在应用多种方法进行降水估算和校准,并采用主成分集成方法进行集成应用的基础上,采用"先估算降水再拼图"和"重叠区域选取最大值"的方法来进行整个流域的降水估算结果拼图,从而实现了整个淮河流域的降水估算。从2007年7月初降水过程应用结果来看,经过校准以后估算误差在45%以下,并且能够反映出缺少地面雨量观测站的区域的降水分布,是一种切实可行的淮河流域降水估算的方法。