Design of Precipitation Networks1

Rainfall estimates, inferred from the thermal infrared channel of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite‐East (GOES‐East) for August 1979, are compared with gauge rainfalls over hourly and daily time frames for area‐averaged amounts and point values. The area of interest is a 3.6×106 km2 region in the central third of the United States. Over the month the satellite rainfalls tend to be smaller by 20–40% than the corresponding gauge amounts, but mean sampling errors inherent in a gauge network of this density (1 gauge/4000 km2) are estimated to be minimally 100% of the areal mean rainfall. Root‐mean‐square errors are approximately 1 mm for daily and 0.1 mm for hourly area‐averaged rainfalls and are 14 mm for daily and 5 mm for hourly point rainfalls. Satellite‐gauge differences of daily (hourly) point values can be large, but 50% of the satellite amounts are within ±4 (±2) mm of the gauge amount, and 90% are within ±20 (±8) mm, reinforcing the fact that the satellite‐derived rainfall is an area‐averaged rather than a point estimate of rain amount. Timing of rain events is comparable for daily area‐averaged satellite and gauge data. However, hourly area‐averaged gauge data exhibit considerably more short‐term fluctuations than the hourly satellite data. For the two satellite algorithms tested, the streamlined technique requires the least computation time (10% of that needed by the life history technique) and shows a little difference in its comparisons with the gauges.

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Precipitation analysis, modeling, and prediction in hydrology

Georgakakos¹,

Kavvas²

1987

Reviews of Geophysics

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In recent years U.S. meteorologists and hydrologists have shown increased interest in research related to modeling, observation and prediction (forecasting) of precipitation. In particular, mesoscale precipitation research has received most of the researchers' attention. This is mainly because of the following three reasons: 1) There has been a shift of interest in the Atmospheric Sciences from the large scale to the mesoscale with emphasis in improving precipitation prediction (e.g., National Academies, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, 1985; National Research Council, Ad Hoc Panel on Mesoscale Processes, 1981; National Research Council, Panel on Precipitation Processes, 1980; Court, 1979).

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Design of Precipitation Networks1

Cited by 5 publications

References 22 publications

Comparisons of Gauge and Satellite Rain Estimates for the Central United States During August 1979

Comparisons of Gauge and Satellite Rain Estimates for the Central United States During August 1979

Comparisons of gauge and satellite rain estimates for the central United States during August 1979

Precipitation analysis, modeling, and prediction in hydrology

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