Microwave links: The future for urban rainfall measurement?

Upton, Graham; Holt, A.R.; Cummings, R.J.; Rahimi, Abdelmejid; Goddard, J.W.F.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.10.009

Cited by 92 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Received signal powers occasionally decrease during nonrainy periods, resulting in non-zero rainfall estimates, e.g. caused by reflection of the beam or dew formation on the antennas (see Upton et al (2005) for an overview). A reliable classification of wet and dry periods is needed to prevent this rainfall overestimation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrieval algorithm for rainfall mapping from microwave links in a cellular communication network

2016

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Abstract. Microwave links in commercial cellular communication networks hold a promise for areal rainfall monitoring and could complement rainfall estimates from ground-based weather radars, rain gauges, and satellites. It has been shown that country-wide ( ≈ 35 500 km 2 ) 15 min rainfall maps can be derived from the signal attenuations of approximately 2400 microwave links in such a network. Here we give a detailed description of the employed rainfall retrieval algorithm. Moreover, the documented, modular, and user-friendly code (a package in the scripting language "R") is made available, including a 2-day data set of approximately 2600 commercial microwave links from the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to promote rainfall mapping utilising microwave links from cellular communication networks as an alternative or complementary means for continental-scale rainfall monitoring.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrieval algorithm for rainfall mapping from microwave links in a cellular communication network

2016

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“…By working with operational point-to-point microwave telecommunication links, Upton et al (2005), Messer et al (2006), Leijnse et al (2007), Zinevich et al (2009), Schleiss and Berne (2010), Kaufmann and Rieckermann (2011), Wang et al (2012), Overeem et al (2013) and Fenicia et al (2012) have shown that the path-averaged rain rate can be estimated from attenuation measurements. However, ground-based microwave link attenuations are provided by local telecom operators, leading to many practical constraints (in particular, coarse precision due to quantization errors and low temporal resolution (typically 15 min)).…”

Section: Published By Copernicus Publications On Behalf Of the Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall measurement from the opportunistic use of an Earth–space link in the Ku band

Barthès

Mallet

2013

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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The present study deals with the development of a low-cost microwave device devoted to the measurement of average rain rates observed along Earth–satellite links, the latter being characterized by a tropospheric path length of a few kilometres. The ground-based power measurements, which are made using the Ku-band television transmissions from several different geostationary satellites, are based on the principle that the atmospheric attenuation produced by rain encountered along each transmission path can be used to determine the path-averaged rain rate. This kind of device could be very useful in hilly areas where radar data are not available or in urban areas where such devices could be directly placed in homes by using residential TV antenna.

The major difficulty encountered with this technique is that of retrieving rainfall characteristics in the presence of many other causes of received signal fluctuation, produced by atmospheric scintillation, variations in atmospheric composition (water vapour concentration, cloud water content) or satellite transmission parameters (variations in emitted power, satellite pointing). In order to conduct a feasibility study with such a device, a measurement campaign was carried out over a period of five months close to Paris.

The present paper proposes an algorithm based on an artificial neural network, used to identify dry and rainy periods and to model received signal variability resulting from effects not related to rain. When the altitude of the rain layer is taken into account, the rain attenuation can be inverted to obtain the path-averaged rain rate. The rainfall rates obtained from this process are compared with co-located rain gauges and radar measurements taken throughout the full duration of the campaign, and the most significant rainfall events are analysed

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“…An important difference is that quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) from a radar are based on the measured power of echoes reflected by raindrops, whereas those from a microwave link are based on the rain-induced attenuation along its path [1]. Generally, microwaves are propagated into the atmosphere in the form of beams by a transmitting antenna, and some signal is absorbed by the atmosphere, some is scattered, and the remainder passes through a receiving antenna [20]. Microwave links have features in between those of radars and rain gauges, with different spatial and temporal resolutions [12].…”

Section: Microwave Linksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Israel, the application of the 10-40 GHz wavelength, which can complement the rain gauges and weather radar networks, has been proposed for its usability [15][16][17][18]. Microwave links, through which very high temporal resolution data can be observed and compared with rain gauge data, are useful for estimating accurate near-surface rainfall rates in urban areas [19,20] and can also be used to estimate variations in drop size distribution (DSD) [21]. The path-averaged rainfall rate also provides new rainfall information for ground adjustment of weather radar rainfall estimates [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall Detection and Rainfall Rate Estimation Using Microwave Attenuation

Kim

Kwon

2018

Atmosphere

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Eight microwave links operating at frequencies ranging from 6 to 8 GHz and with path lengths ranging from 5.7 to 37.4 km traversing the city of Seoul, Korea are used to detect rainfall and estimate path-averaged rainfall rates. Rainfall detection using rain-induced attenuation (dB) was validated by rain detectors installed at automatic weather stations, and the results confirmed that microwave links can be used to detect rainfall with an accuracy ≥80%. The power-law R-k relationships between rain-induced specific attenuation, k (dB km −1 ), and the rainfall rate, R (mm h −1 ), were established and cross-validated by estimating the path-averaged rainfall rate. The mean bias of the path-averaged rainfall rate, as compared to the rainfall rate from ground rain gauges, was between −3 and 1 mm h −1 . The improved accuracy of rainfall detection led to the improved accuracy of the path-averaged rainfall rate. Hence, it was confirmed that microwave links, used for broadcasting and media communications, can identify rainy or dry periods (rain spells or dry spells) in a way comparable to rain detectors and provide high time-resolution rainfall rates in real time.

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Microwave links: The future for urban rainfall measurement?

Cited by 92 publications

References 10 publications

Retrieval algorithm for rainfall mapping from microwave links in a cellular communication network

Retrieval algorithm for rainfall mapping from microwave links in a cellular communication network

Rainfall measurement from the opportunistic use of an Earth–space link in the Ku band

Rainfall Detection and Rainfall Rate Estimation Using Microwave Attenuation

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