Coupling X-band dual-polarized mini-radars and hydro-meteorological forecast models: the HYDRORAD project

Picciotti, Errico; Marzano, Frank S.; Anagnostou, Emmanouil N.; Kalogiros, John; Fessas, Y.; Volpi, A.; Cazac, Viorica; Pace, Richard; Cinque, Giovanni; Bernardini, L.; Sanctis, K. De; Fabio, Saverio Di; Montopoli, Mario; Anagnostou, Marios N.; Telleschi, A.; Dimitriou, Elias; Stella, Juan M.

doi:10.5194/nhess-13-1229-2013

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The use of X-band weather radars is rapidly increasing with the advance of technology and data correction and processing algorithms, as well as their reduced costs for installation and maintenance with respect to the operational long-range C-and S-band systems. The high resolution and the increased sensitivity of X-band radars make them quite suitable for nowcasting purposes [102][103][104]. The range limitation of X-band radars due to the larger attenuation in rain in this microwave band can be surpassed using radar networks, whose setup improves also the accuracy of radar products [105][106][107].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Platform Hydrometeorological Analysis of the Flash Flood Event of 15 November 2017 in Attica, Greece

et al. 2018

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Urban areas often experience high precipitation rates and heights associated with flash flood events. Atmospheric and hydrological models in combination with remote-sensing and surface observations are used to analyze these phenomena. This study aims to conduct a hydrometeorological analysis of a flash flood event that took place in the sub-urban area of Mandra, western Attica, Greece, using remote-sensing observations and the Chemical Hydrological Atmospheric Ocean Wave System (CHAOS) modeling system that includes the Advanced Weather Research Forecasting (WRF-ARW) model and the hydrological model (WRF-Hydro). The flash flood was caused by a severe storm during the morning of 15 November 2017 around Mandra area resulting in extensive damages and 24 fatalities. The X-band dual-polarization (XPOL) weather radar of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) observed precipitation rates reaching 140 mm/h in the core of the storm. CHAOS simulation unveils the persistent orographic convergence of humid southeasterly airflow over Pateras mountain as the dominant parameter for the evolution of the storm. WRF-Hydro simulated the flood using three different precipitation estimations as forcing data, obtained from the CHAOS simulation (CHAOS-hydro), the XPOL weather radar (XPOL-hydro) and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GMP)/Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) satellite dataset (GPM/IMERG-hydro). The findings indicate that GPM/IMERG-hydro underestimated the flood magnitude. On the other hand, XPOL-hydro simulation resulted to discharge about 115 m3/s and water level exceeding 3 m in Soures and Agia Aikaterini streams, which finally inundated. CHAOS-hydro estimated approximately the half water level and even lower discharge compared to XPOL-hydro simulation. Comparing site-detailed post-surveys of flood extent, XPOL-hydro is characterized by overestimation while CHAOS-hydro and GPM/IMERG-hydro present underestimation. However, CHAOS-hydro shows enough skill to simulate the flooded areas despite the forecast inaccuracies of numerical weather prediction. Overall, the simulation results demonstrate the potential benefit of using high-resolution observations from a X-band dual-polarization radar as an additional forcing component in model precipitation simulations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Platform Hydrometeorological Analysis of the Flash Flood Event of 15 November 2017 in Attica, Greece

et al. 2018

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“…In this respect, a dual polarization prototype has been tested within the recent HYDRORAD project [13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The purpose is to convert the radar reflectivity (Z), expressed in dBZ, into radar-derived rain rate (R), expressed in mm/h. To pursue this goal, two steps are envisaged [13]: i) the choice of the proper relation and coefficients in the Z-R conversion law; ii) the application of an adjustment factor F. As it will be shown later on, both steps make use of gauge measurements (G) in millimeters every 15 minutes.…”

Section: Radar Measurement Errormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, the increased use of X band frequencies for weather radar applications, for instance to cover small catchments and urban areas, has pushed the activity to develop and improve such systems both in single and dual-polarization configuration (e.g., [10], [13], [7]). The exploitation of radar polarimetric features can provide, at expenses of a more complex system, a data quality check and a statistical correction of two-way path attenuation which may be significant for convective rain and long ranges (e.g., [4], [3], [12], [7]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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X-band weather radar monitoring real-time products in Rome and Naples urban areas

Marzano

Picciotti

Montopoli

et al. 2012

2012 Tyrrhenian Workshop on Advances in Radar and Remote Sensing (TyWRRS)

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The metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples are the most populous in Italy, having a population of 4,233,000 and 3,020,000 peoples, respectively, and being within the first 10 th -most populous urban areas in the European Union. Within such areas population, industry, commerce, transport and government activities are highly affected by severe weather associated with convective storms, flash floods and mood slides as well as other damages caused by hail, lightning, wind gusts all year round (mainly in autumn). In this respect weather radars' capability to monitor precipitation at high spatial and temporal scales is of outmost importance and stimulates a significant interest within both meteorological and hydrological community. This is due to the fact that improving intense storm and flash flood forecast requires accurate quantitative rain measurements at small scales. In this context two low-cost single-polarization X-band weather radar systems have been installed and tested in Rome and Naples metropolitan areas. Herein some preliminary results are described, showing the usefulness and potentiality of such X-band low-cost systems at urban scale.

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“…Lengfeld et al, 2014;Trabal et al, 2013;Lim et al, 2011;McLaughlin et al, 2009;Salazar et al, 2009;Chandrasekar and Jayasumana, 2001;Crum et al, 1998) and are already used to improve drainage control and flash-flood warning systems (e.g. Picciotti et al, 2013;Quintero et al, 2012;Delrieu et al, 2009;Corral et al, 2008;Einfalt et al, 2004;Creutin and Borga, 2003;Krajewski and Smith, 2002). However, a disad-vantage of using weather radar data is the lower accuracy of the retrieved rain rate in comparison to measurements from rain gauges, since rain rates are not measured directly but derived from reflectivity measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel approach for absolute radar calibration: formulation and theoretical validation

Merker¹,

Peters²,

Clemens³

et al. 2015

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. The theoretical framework of a novel approach for absolute radar calibration is presented and its potential analysed by means of synthetic data to lay out a solid basis for future practical application. The method presents the advantage of an absolute calibration with respect to the directly measured reflectivity, without needing a previously calibrated reference device. It requires a setup comprising three radars: two devices oriented towards each other, measuring reflectivity along the same horizontal beam and operating within a strongly attenuated frequency range (e.g. K or X band), and one vertical reflectivity and drop size distribution (DSD) profiler below this connecting line, which is to be calibrated. The absolute determination of the calibration factor is based on attenuation estimates.Using synthetic, smooth and geometrically idealised data, calibration is found to perform best using homogeneous precipitation events with rain rates high enough to ensure a distinct attenuation signal (reflectivity above ca. 30 dBZ). Furthermore, the choice of the interval width (in measuring range gates) around the vertically pointing radar, needed for attenuation estimation, is found to have an impact on the calibration results.Further analysis is done by means of synthetic data with realistic, inhomogeneous precipitation fields taken from measurements. A calibration factor is calculated for each considered case using the presented method. Based on the distribution of the calculated calibration factors, the most probable value is determined by estimating the mode of a fitted shifted logarithmic normal distribution function. After filtering the data set with respect to rain rate and inhomogeneity and choosing an appropriate length of the considered attenuation path, the estimated uncertainty of the calibration factor is of the order of 1 to 11 %, depending on the chosen interval width. Considering stability and accuracy of the method, an interval of eight range gates on both sides of the vertically pointing radar is most appropriate for calibration in the presented setup.

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Coupling X-band dual-polarized mini-radars and hydro-meteorological forecast models: the HYDRORAD project

Cited by 18 publications

References 28 publications

A Multi-Platform Hydrometeorological Analysis of the Flash Flood Event of 15 November 2017 in Attica, Greece

A Multi-Platform Hydrometeorological Analysis of the Flash Flood Event of 15 November 2017 in Attica, Greece

X-band weather radar monitoring real-time products in Rome and Naples urban areas

A novel approach for absolute radar calibration: formulation and theoretical validation

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