Guallpa, M.; Orellana-Alvear, J. & Bendix, J. (2019): <b>Tropical Andes Radar Precipitation Estimates Need High Temporal and Moderate Spatial Resolution</b>. <i>Water</i> <b>11</b>(5), 1-22.
Resource Description
Title:
Tropical Andes Radar Precipitation Estimates Need High Temporal and Moderate Spatial Resolution
FOR816dw ID:
333
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
License and Usage Rights:
Resource Owner(s):
Individual:
Mario Guallpa
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Johanna Orellana-Alvear
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Jörg Bendix
Contact:
email:
bendix <at> staff.uni-marburg.de
Deutschhausstraße 12
Room No. 02 A 48
35032 Marburg
Faculty of Geography
Germany
Abstract:
Weather radar networks are an excellent tool for quantitative precipitation estimation<br/>
(QPE), due to their high resolution in space and time, particularly in remote mountain areas such as<br/>
the Tropical Andes. Nevertheless, reduction of the temporal and spatial resolution might severely<br/>
reduce the quality of QPE. Thus, the main objective of this study was to analyze the impact of spatial<br/>
and temporal resolutions of radar data on the cumulative QPE. For this, data from the world’s highest<br/>
X-band weather radar (4450 m a.s.l.), located in the Andes of Ecuador (Paute River basin), and from<br/>
a rain gauge network were used. Dierent time resolutions (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60 min) and<br/>
spatial resolutions (0.5, 0.25, and 0.1 km) were evaluated. An optical flow method was validated<br/>
for 11 rainfall events (with dierent features) and applied to enhance the temporal resolution of<br/>
radar data to 1-min intervals. The results show that 1-min temporal resolution images are able to<br/>
capture rain event features in detail. The radar–rain gauge correlation decreases considerably when<br/>
the time resolution increases (r from 0.69 to 0.31, time resolution from 1 to 60 min). No significant<br/>
dierence was found in the rain total volume (3%) calculated with the three spatial resolution data.<br/>
A spatial resolution of 0.5 km on radar imagery is suitable to quantify rainfall in the AndesMountains.<br/>
This study improves knowledge on rainfall spatial distribution in the Ecuadorian Andes, and it will<br/>
be the basis for future hydrometeorological studies.
Keywords:
| rainfall | Radar | Cajas | Cuenca | Paute |
Literature type specific fields:
ARTICLE
Journal:
Water
Volume:
11
Issue:
5
Page Range:
1-22
Metadata Provider:
Individual:
Jörg Bendix
Contact:
email:
bendix <at> staff.uni-marburg.de
Deutschhausstraße 12
Room No. 02 A 48
35032 Marburg
Faculty of Geography
Germany
