Numerical simulation studies of rain gage data correction due to wind effect

Abstract

Abstract. Investigation of the correction of rain gage measurements due to the wind effect is described. The focus is on the effect of the temporal averaging scale on the estimation of the windinduced error correction. Numerically derived correction formulae for a specific class of rain gage types, along with high temporal resolution measurements of rainfall and wind speed, are used to perform the study. The rainfall measurements are corrected on a variety of temporal scales ranging from 1 min to 1 month. The results showed the importance of applying the correction procedure at a short timescale, otherwise a significant overestimation of the wind-induced bias results. The wind-induced error is characterized by a nonlinear complex behavior dependent on wind speed, rainfall rate, and the microphysical rain structure quantified by a drop size distribution parameter. The estimated correction factors are found to be sensitive to the change of the drop size distribution. Finally, comparison with certain formulae reported in the literature showed a significant random scatter of the estimated correction if it is expressed only as a function of the wind speed and the drop size distribution characteristics are ignored.

A radar‐based rainfall climatology of Great Britain and Ireland

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