Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-439
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-439
07 Dec 2017
 | 07 Dec 2017
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal AMT but the revision was not accepted.

X-band dual-polarized radar quantitative precipitation estimate analyses in the Midwestern United States

Micheal J. Simpson and Neil I. Fox

Abstract. Over the past decade, polarized weather radars have been at the forefront of the search for a replacement of estimating precipitation over the spatially, and temporally inferior tipping buckets. However, many radar-coverage gaps exist within the Continental US (CONUS), proposing a dilemma in that radar rainfall estimate quality degrades with range. One possible solution is that of X-band weather radars. However, the literature as to their long-term performance is lacking. Therefore, the overarching objective of the current study was to analyze two year’s worth of radar data from the X-band dualpolarimetric MZZU radar in central Missouri at four separate ranges from the radar, utilizing tippingbuckets as ground-truth precipitation data. The conventional R(Z)-Convective equation, in addition to several other polarized algorithms, consisting of some combinations of reflectivity (Z), differential reflectivity (ZDR), and the specific differential phase shift (KDP) were used to estimate rainfall. Results indicated that the performance of the algorithms containing ZDR were superior in terms of the normalized standard error (NSE), missed and false precipitation amounts, and the overall precipitation errors. Furthermore, the R(Z,ZDR) and R(ZDR,KDP) algorithms were the only ones which reported NSE values below 100 %, whereas R(Z) and R(KDP) equations resulted in false precipitation amounts equal to or greater than 65 % of the total gauge recorded rainfall amounts. The results show promise in the utilization of the smaller, more cost-effective X-band radars in terms of quantitative precipitation estimation at ranges from 30 to 80 km from the radar.

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Micheal J. Simpson and Neil I. Fox
 
Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
Micheal J. Simpson and Neil I. Fox
Micheal J. Simpson and Neil I. Fox

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Latest update: 09 Nov 2024
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Short summary
The current study analyzes two year's worth of X-band weather radar data while utilizing over 50 different rain rate algorithms in Central Missouri. Results indicate that algorithms containing the differential reflectivity (ZDR) were the most robust due to its low normalized standard error values (below 100 %). Quantitative analyses provided insight into the fact that the majority of errors were due to falsely detected precipitation in comparison to missed precipitation or mean absolute errors.