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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp018049g820w
Title: Polarimetric Radar Analyses of Extreme Rainfall
Authors: Chaney, Molly Margaret
Advisors: Smith, James A
Contributors: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Keywords: flooding
polarimetric
radar
rainfall
Subjects: Meteorology
Hydrologic sciences
Atmospheric sciences
Issue Date: 2021
Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University
Abstract: Rain rate fields with high spatial and temporal resolution are essential to urban flood analyses. The polarimetric upgrade to the WSR-88D network of weather radars has presented an opportunity for improved quantitative precipitation estimations (QPE) from weather radar variables.The principal objective of this work is to assess the accuracy of KDP-based algorithms for estimating extreme rainfall at short durations (3 hours and less) and small spatial scales (less than 100 km2). We use polarimetric radar observations from the Houston, Kansas City, Topeka, Baltimore, and St. Louis WSR-88D radars, for which the polarimetric upgrade was completed in 2012. The principal method by which we evaluate accuracy is through radar - gage intercomparison. Changes in rainfall extremes due to a warming climate underscore the need for spatially and temporally fine-scale radar rain rate fields, as gage networks are sparse and rarely capture the heaviest rainfall. Specific differential phase, KDP, provides superior rainfall estimates when compared to reflectivity-only estimates, and when compared to the operational digital precipitation result (DPR) from the National Weather Service. Range and convective intensity are linked to the error structure of polarimetric rainfall estimates. Mean field bias and conditional bias remain an issue for KDP-based rainfall estimates, and point to the need to further examine the prefactor in the power law used when computing rainfall.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp018049g820w
Alternate format: The Mudd Manuscript Library retains one bound copy of each dissertation. Search for these copies in the library's main catalog: catalog.princeton.edu
Type of Material: Academic dissertations (Ph.D.)
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Civil and Environmental Engineering

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