RadarNetPlus
Scientific results and Media echo
New Video released: Estacion Ramon Mugica Piura
Second rain season operating the Radar in Piura, Mar 23, 2021
Inspite of the difficult situation all over the world, the Radar in Piura serves the scientific community and the public alike.
UDEP has produced a new video ... showing the basic purpose of the radar and its significance in the
context of the RadarNetPlus-Network.
watch on youtube
The site of the radar is now part of what is called the Estación científica Ramon Mugíca, in honor of the pioneering scientist at the UDEP. This Scientific station not only
is the place of the new PIUX Radar but has a long tradition of climate observation starting with a Wind Radar and Boundary Layer Radar in 1995.
In that year, also a first climate station was installed and has continously operated since then.
Today it also features a seismic measurement, various climate measurements and the Laboratory for dendroclimatology. Furthermore its
the central site of the Niño5-Network, a gradient of climate stations spanning from the coast to the mountains along the 5°S-parallel of the equator.
Recent publications of RadarNetPlus
Scientific results are gathering Mar 22, 2021
After three years of operating the extended Network of RadarNetPlus, new insights and results are gathered.
...
The list of publications now counts 10 peer-reviewed articles based on the results of the radars in Ecuador and Peru:
10. Orellana-Alvear, J., Célleri, R., Rollenbeck, R., Muñoz P (2020): Assessment of Native Radar Reflectivity and
Radar Rainfall Estimates for Discharge Forecasting in Mountain Catchments with a Random Forest Model. Remote Sensing 12(12):1986
9. Mejía-Veintimilla D, Ochoa-Cueva P, Samaniego-Rojas N, Félix R, Arteaga J, Crespo P, Oñate-Valdivieso F, Fries A (2019):
River Discharge Simulation in the High Andes of Southern Ecuador Using High-Resolution Radar Observations and Meteorological Station Data.
Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 2804
8. Orellana-Alvear, J., Célleri, R., Rollenbeck, R., Bendix J (2019):
Optimization of X-band radar rainfall retrieval in the Southern Andes of Ecuador using a random forest model.
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(14), 1632; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11141632
7. Oñate-Valdivieso, F.; Fries, A.; Mendoza, K.; Gonzalez-Jaramillo, V.; Pucha-Cofrep, F.; Rollenbeck, R. & Bendix, J. (2018):
Temporal and spatial analysis of precipitation patterns in an Andean region of southern Ecuador using LAWR weather radar.
Meteorol. Atmos. Phys. 2017, 1-12
6. Orellana-Alvear, J., Célleri, R., Rollenbeck, R., Bendix J.: (2017):
Analysis of Rain Types and Their Z–R Relationships at Different Locations in the High Andes of Southern Ecuador.
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 56 (11), 3065-3080
5. Bendix, J.; Fries, A.; Zarate, J.; Trachte, K.; Rollenbeck, R.; Pucha-Cofrep, F.; Paladines, R.; Palacios, I.;
Orellana Alvear, J.; Oñate-Valdivieso, F.; Naranjo, C.; Mendoza, L.; Mejia, D.; Guallpa, M.; Gordillo, F.; Gonzalez-Jaramillo, V.;
Dobbermann, M.; Celleri, R.; Carillo, C.; Araque, A. & Achilles, S. (2017):
Radarnet Sur – first weather radar network in tropical high mountains. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98(6), 1235-1254
4.Fries, A.; Rollenbeck, R.; Bayer, F.; Gonzalez, V.; Oñate-Valivieso, F.; Peters, T. & Bendix, J. (2014):
Catchment precipitation processes in the San Francisco valley in southern Ecuador: combined approach using high-resolution
radar images and in situ observations. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics Vol. 126, Issue 1-2, pp 13-29
3. Rollenbeck R., Bendix J. (2010): Rainfall distribution in the Andes of southern Ecuador derived from blending weather radar data
and meteorological field observations. Atmospheric Research. Vol.99/1: 277-289
2. Bendix, J., Trachte, K., Cermak, J., Rollenbeck, R. & Nauß, T. (2009): Formation of convective clouds at the foothills
of the tropical eastern Andes (South Ecuador). Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 48: 1682-1695
1. Rollenbeck R., Bendix J. (2006): Experimental calibration of a cost-effective X-band weather radar for climate
ecological studies in southern Ecuador. Atmospheric Research 79: 296-316
Besides these, the project has been presented in many conferences and symposia like the EGU General Assembly in Vienna (2018 and 2020),
the annual Meetings of the german Arbeitskreis Klima 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019) and several events held at the Universidad de Cuenca,
the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja and the Universidad de Piura. The latest presentation was held at the Water Security and
Climate Change Conference 2021 in Vietnam. Also, in 2021 Johanna Orellana-Alvear obtained her PhD-Degree with a thesis about the radar results.
Currently a new manuscript is under review in "Weather and Climate Extremes" analyzing the unusual weather situations in 2017
Bulletin of the Instituto Geofísico de Perú features the Piura Radar
Radar de lluvias en Piura para observar El Niño, Sep 12, 2019
As an important national institution in Peru the IGP publishes monthly bulletins about progress in the field of Geophysical science in Peru
... The April edition features an article about the new Radar System in Piura (PIUX).
The article explains the historical need for such Radar systems, especially in the region of North Peru and also gives a detailed overview of the technical capabilities of the system.
It is indicative for the development of the cooperation of various entities - national and international - within RadarNetPlus.
The Bulletin is available here online for free
Remote sensing Article
Optimization of X-band rainfall radar retrieval in the Southern Andes of Ecuador using a random forest machine learning model, July 12, 2019
The conversion of Radar reflectivity to rain rate is a challenge in mountain regions. Johanna has achieved great results applying a machine lerning model based on the random forest approach
... The article compares previous results of the common stepwise calibration approach to the highly automatic method of determining influential parameters.
The results are presented for a limited sector of the CAXX radar data but shall be used for the other areas and the other radars, too.
The Article is available online for free from MDPI Remote sensing - special Issue Radar Meterology
Video released: The beauty of North Peru
First days of operating the Radar in Piura, May 15, 2019
UDEP has produced a video showing the implications of the new Radar for scientific progress as well as for the benefits of the society.... The implementation of the Radar is supported by various authorities in Peru and the video explains several applications for the data gathered by the instrument like flooding forecast, irrigation planning, ecological studies and touristic activities. Also it stresses the importance of placing the Radar at this site, where the global climate phenomenon El Niño impacts most heavily. watch on youtube
Press and Media echo
Reports from the inauguration and operation of RadarNetPlus Jan 01, 2018
In 2015 RadarNetSur went operational and was reported across various media outlets in Ecuador and Germany. Here is a short collection of Media reports
...
The Prefectura de Loja produced this short film in spanish published on Youtube in 2015, showing the Radar
LOXX in operation and representatives of the institutions involved in the project.
This was early in the development of the project. In 2017, when first results could be analyzed, the interest in other media grew also.
UTPL reported on their Blog-site ,
Media outlets in Germany pointed out the cooperative work and the scientific progress achievable with this systems.
and the Philipps-Universität Marburg prominently displayed the project
on their Homepage.
High-impact Article in BAMS
Bulletin of the American Meteorological society publishes article about RadarNetSur, June 15, 2017
The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society is one of the highest ranked in the field of Meteorology....
In it´s June 2017 Edition the article "RADARNET-SUR FIRST WEATHER RADAR NETWORK IN TROPICAL HIGH MOUNTAINS" was published.
The Author-team of 21 scientists from ecuadorian and german institution are proud, that BAMS also chose the article and a picture of the CAXX-Radar
as the opener for the whole volume 98. The article details the achievements of the first three years of operating the Radar network and also some older
results from the LOXX-Radar in the ecuadorian Province of Zamora.
The Article is accesible here
Comparison of interpolated and radar based rainfall maps