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  • Articles  (19)
  • Copernicus  (19)
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  • Articles  (19)
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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2014-08-19
    Description: The raindrop size distribution (DSD) quantifies the micro-structure of rainfall and is critical to studying precipitation processes. We present a method to improve the accuracy of DSD measurements from Parsivel disdrometers, using a two-dimensional-video-disdrometer (2DVD) as a reference instrument. Parsivel disdrometers bin recorded raindrops into velocity and equivolume diameter classes, but may mis-estimate the number of drops per class. We define a filter for raw disdrometer measurements to remove particles that are unlikely to be plausible raindrops. In our correction method, drop velocities are corrected with reference to theoretical models of terminal drop velocity. Non-plausible measurements are removed. Lastly, drop concentrations are corrected such that on average the Parsivel concentrations match those recorded by a 2DVD. The correction can be trained on and applied to data from both generations of Parsivel disdrometers. The method was applied to data collected during field campaigns in Mediterranean France, for a network of first and second generation Parsivel disdrometers. We compared the moments of the resulting DSDs to those of a collocated 2DVD, and the resulting DSD-derived rain rates to collocated rain gauges. The correction vastly improved the accuracy of the moments of the Parsivel DSDs, and in the majority of cases the rain rate match with collocated rain gauges was improved.
    Electronic ISSN: 1867-8610
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2014-08-19
    Description: A data-driven approach to the classification of hydrometeors from measurements collected with polarimetric weather radars is proposed. In a first step, the optimal number nopt of hydrometeor classes that can be reliably identified from a large set of polarimetric data is determined. This is done by means of an unsupervised clustering technique guided by criteria related both to data similarity and to spatial smoothness of the classified images. In a second step, the nopt clusters are assigned to the appropriate hydrometeor class by means of human interpretation and comparisons with the output of other classification techniques. The main innovation in the proposed method is the unsupervised part: the hydrometeor classes are not defined a-priori, but they are learned from data. The proposed approach is applied to data collected by an X-band polarimetric weather radar during two field campaigns (totalling about 3000 h of precipitation). Seven hydrometeor classes have been found in the data set and they have been associated to drizzle (DZ), light rain (LR), heavy rain (HR), melting snow (MS), ice crystals/small aggregates (CR), aggregates (AG), rimed particles (RI).
    Electronic ISSN: 1867-8610
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2006-06-06
    Description: Weather radar systems are very suitable tools for the monitoring of extreme rainfall events providing measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution over a wide geographical area. Nevertheless, radar rainfall retrieval at C-band is prone to several error sources, such as rain path attenuation which affects the accuracy of inversion algorithms. In this paper, the so-called rain profiling techniques (namely the surface reference method FV and the polarimetric method ZPHI) are applied to correct rain path attenuation and a new neural network algorithm is proposed to estimate the rain rate from the corrected measurements of reflectivity and differential reflectivity. A stochastic model, based on disdrometer measurements, is used to generate realistic range profiles of raindrop size distribution parameters while a T-matrix solution technique is adopted to compute the corresponding polarimetric variables. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to evaluate the expected errors of these methods. It has been found that the ZPHI method is more reliable than FV, being less sensitive to calibration errors. Moreover, the proposed neural network algorithm has shown more accurate rain rate estimates than the corresponding parametric algorithm, especially in presence of calibration errors.
    Print ISSN: 1561-8633
    Electronic ISSN: 1684-9981
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2006-06-02
    Description: At short wavelengths, especially C-, X-, and K-band, weather radar signals are attenuated by the precipitation along their paths. This constitutes a major source of error for radar rainfall estimation, in particular for intense precipitation. A recently developed stochastic simulator of range profiles of raindrop size distributions (DSD) provides a controlled experiment framework to investigate the accuracy and robustness of attenuation correction algorithms. The work presented here focuses on the quantification of the influence of uncertainties concerning radar calibration, the parameterization of power law relations between the integral variables (radar reflectivity Z and specific attenuation k), and total path integrated attenuation (PIA) estimates at X-band. The analysis concerns single frequency, incoherent and non-polarimetric radar systems. Two attenuation correction algorithms, based on a forward and a backward implementation respectively, are studied. From DSD range profiles, the corresponding profiles of integral radar variables are derived. Using a Monte Carlo approach, the accuracy and robustness of the two algorithms are quantified for the different sources of error previously mentioned. This framework of realistic DSD variability provides a robust way to confirm that, under realistic assumptions concerning the PIA estimation uncertainty, the forward algorithm outperforms the backward algorithm for PIA values below 10 dB.
    Print ISSN: 1561-8633
    Electronic ISSN: 1684-9981
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2014-11-27
    Description: Rapid mass movements (RMM) pose a substantial risk to people and infrastructure. Reliable and cost-efficient measures have to be taken to reduce this risk. One of these measures includes establishing and advancing the State of Practice in the application of Early Warning Systems (EWS). EWS have been developed during the past decades and are rapidly increasing. In this document, we focus on the technical part of EWS, i.e. the prediction and timely recognition of imminent hazards, as well as on monitoring slopes at risk and released mass movements. Recent innovations in assessing spatial precipitation, as well as monitoring and modelling precursors, the triggering and deformation of RMM offer new opportunities for next-generation EWS. However, technical advancement can only be transferred into more reliable, operational EWS with an intense dialog between scientists, engineers and those in charge of warning. To this end, further experience with new comprehensive prototype systems jointly operated by scientists and practitioners will be essential.
    Electronic ISSN: 2195-9269
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2015-04-24
    Description: Rapid mass movements (RMM) pose a substantial risk to people and infrastructure. Reliable and cost-efficient measures have to be taken to reduce this risk. One of these measures includes establishing and advancing the state of practice in the application of early warning systems (EWSs). EWSs have been developed during the past decades and are rapidly increasing. In this paper, we focus on the technical part of EWSs, i.e., the prediction and timely recognition of imminent hazards, as well as on monitoring slopes at risk and released mass movements. Recent innovations in assessing spatial precipitation, monitoring and precursors of the triggering and deformation of RMM offer new opportunities for next-generation EWSs. However, technical advancement can only be transferred into more reliable, operational EWSs with an adequate well-instructed dedicated staff. To this end, an intense dialog between scientists, engineers and those in charge of warning, as well as further experience with new comprehensive prototype systems jointly operated by scientists and practitioners, will be essential.
    Print ISSN: 1561-8633
    Electronic ISSN: 1684-9981
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2005-03-04
    Description: This paper presents a first assessment of the hydrometeorological potential of a C-band doppler weather radar recently installed by the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium near the village of Wideumont in the southern Ardennes region. An analysis of the vertical profile of reflectivity for two contrasting rainfall events confirms the expected differences between stratiform and convective precipitation. The mean areal rainfall over the Ourthe catchment upstream of Tabreux estimated from the Wideumont weather radar using the standard Marshall-Palmer reflectivity-rain rate relation shows biases between +128% and –42% for six selected precipitation events. For two rainfall events the radar-estimated mean areal rainfall is applied to the gauge-calibrated (lumped) HBV-model for the Ourthe upstream of Tabreux, resulting in a significant underestimation with respect to the observed discharge for one event and a closer match for another. A bootstrap analysis using the radar data reveals that the uncertainty in the hourly discharge from the ~1600km2} catchment associated with the sampling uncertainty of the mean areal rainfall estimated from 10 rain gauges evenly spread over the catchment amounts to ±25% for the two events analyzed. This uncertainty is shown to be of the same order of magnitude as that associated with the model variables describing the initial state of the model.
    Print ISSN: 1561-8633
    Electronic ISSN: 1684-9981
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2008-03-19
    Description: As 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 theoretical analysis of some of the associated observation uncertainties. A stochastic model of range profiles of raindrop size distributions is employed in a Monte Carlo simulation experiment to investigate the rainfall retrieval uncertainties associated with weather radars operating at X-, C-, and S-band. We focus in particular on the errors and uncertainties associated with rain-induced signal attenuation and its correction for incoherent, non-polarimetric, single-frequency, operational weather radars. The performance of two attenuation correction schemes, the (forward) Hitschfeld-Bordan algorithm and the (backward) Marzoug-Amayenc algorithm, is analyzed for both moderate (assuming a 50 km path length) and intense Mediterranean rainfall (for a 30 km path). A comparison shows that the backward correction algorithm is more stable and accurate than the forward algorithm (with a bias in the order of a few percent for the former, compared to tens of percent for the latter), provided reliable estimates of the total path-integrated attenuation are available. Moreover, the bias and root mean square error associated with each algorithm are quantified as a function of path-averaged rain rate and distance from the radar in order to provide a plausible order of magnitude for the uncertainty in radar-retrieved rain rates for hydrological applications.
    Print ISSN: 1027-5606
    Electronic ISSN: 1607-7938
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2006-08-28
    Description: 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.
    Print ISSN: 1812-2108
    Electronic ISSN: 1812-2116
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2015-07-02
    Description: This study investigates the microphysics of winter alpine snowfall occurring in mixed-phase clouds in an inner-Alpine valley during January and February 2014. The available observations include high resolution polarimetric radar and in-situ measurements of the ice-phase and liquid-phase components of clouds and precipitation. Radar-based hydrometeor classification suggests that riming is a dominant factor leading to an efficient growth of the precipitating mass and to a large snow accumulation on the ground. The time steps during which rimed precipitation is dominant are analysed in terms of temporal evolution and vertical structure. In most cases, riming is the result of a turbulent phase, of limited duration, during which supercooled liquid water (SLW) is available. When this turbulent layer is stable in time and continuously provides SLW, riming can be sustained for many hours without SLW depletion, thus generating large accumulations of snow. The microphysical interpretation as well as the meteorological situation associated with one event with those characteristics are detailed in the manuscript. The vertical structure of polarimetric radar observations during intense rimed precipitation shows a peculiar maximum of specific differential phase shift Kdp, associated with large number concentrations and/or heavy riming of anisotropic crystals. Below this Kdp peak there is usually an enhancement in ZH, proportional to the Kdp enhancement and interpreted as aggregation of ice crystals.
    Electronic ISSN: 1680-7375
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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