High Resolution Radar Quantitative Precipitation Estimation in the San Francisco Bay Area: Rainfall Monitoring for the Urban Environment

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

V. CHANDRASEKAR¹  Robert CIFELLI² 

[1] Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Colorado, USA;Physical Sciences Division, NOAA / Earth System Research Laboratory, Colorado, USA

关键词: dual polarization;    X-band radar;    QPE;    flash flood;    San Francisco Bay;   

DOI  :  10.2151/jmsj.2018-016

学科分类：大气科学

来源: Meteorological Society of Japan

【 摘 要 】

 An X-band radar system was deployed in Santa Clara, CA from February through May 2016 to support the National Weather Service in the event of potential flooding during one of the largest El Niños on record and to provide a better understanding of rainfall processes occurring in the Bay Area. The system was also used to provide high-quality precipitation estimation (quantitative precipitation estimation—QPE) for Santa Clara's urban hydrologic modeling system. Although the Bay Area has coverage from the Next-Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) operational radar network, the combination of topographic influences and proximity to a maritime environment provide unique QPE challenges in this urban region. The X-band radar provided high-quality rainfall estimates that performed better than NEXRAD, demonstrating the added value of the X-band system. High-resolution rainfall monitoring systems in urban regions also provide a host of benefits across different sectors of the economy, including flood damage mitigation, water quality, water supply, and transportation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown