Updates on the Radar Data Quality Control in the MRMS Quantitative Precipitation Estimation System

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1521-1537
Author(s):  
Lin Tang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Micheal Simpson ◽  
Ami Arthur ◽  
Heather Grams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Estimation System ◽  
Environmental Prediction

AbstractThe Multi-Radar-Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system was transitioned into operations at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in the fall of 2014. It provides high-quality and high-resolution severe weather and precipitation products for meteorology, hydrology, and aviation applications. Among processing modules, the radar data quality control (QC) plays a critical role in effectively identifying and removing various nonhydrometeor radar echoes for accurate quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE). Since its initial implementation in 2014, the radar QC has undergone continuous refinements and enhancements to ensure its robust performance across seasons and all regions in the continental United States and southern Canada. These updates include 1) improved melting-layer delineation, 2) clearance of wind farm contamination, 3) mitigation of corrupt data impacts due to hardware issues, 4) mitigation of sun spikes, and 5) mitigation of residual ground/lake/sea clutter due to sidelobe effects and anomalous propagation. This paper provides an overview of the MRMS radar data QC enhancements since 2014.

scholarly journals A Synthetic Quantitative Precipitation Estimation by Integrating S- and C-Band Dual-Polarization Radars over Northern Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Ju-Yu Chen ◽  
Wei-Yu Chang ◽  
Pao-Liang Chang
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Systematic Bias ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Dual Polarization ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Raindrop Size Distribution ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Raindrop Size ◽  
Northern Taiwan

The key factors, namely, the radar data quality, raindrop size distribution (RSD) variability, and the data integration method, which significantly affect radar-based quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) are investigated using the RCWF (S-band) and NCU C-POL (C-band) dual-polarization radars in northern Taiwan. The radar data quality control (QC) procedures, including the corrections of attenuation, the systematic bias, and the wet-radome effect, have large impact on the QPE accuracy. With the proper QC procedures, the values of normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) decrease about 10~40% for R(ZHH) and about 5~15% for R(KDP). The QPE error from the RSD variability is mitigated by applying seasonal coefficients derived from eight-year disdrometer data. Instead of using discrete QPEs (D-QPE) from one radar, the synthetic QPEs are derived via discretely combined QPEs (DC-QPE) from S- and C-band radars. The improvements in DC-QPE compared to D-QPE are about 1.5–7.0% and 3.5–8.5% in R(KDP) and R(KDP, ZDR), respectively. A novel algorithm, Lagrangian-evolution adjustment (LEA), is proposed to compensate D-QPE from a single radar. The LEA-QPE shows 1–4% improvements in R(KDP, ZDR) at the C-band radar, which has a larger scanning temporal gap (up to 10 min). The synthetic LEA-QPEs by combining two radars have outperformed both D-QPEs and DC-QPEs.

scholarly journals Monitoring the impacts of weather radar data quality control for quantitative application at the continental scale

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Michelson ◽  
Bjarne Hansen ◽  
Dominik Jacques ◽  
François Lemay ◽  
Peter Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Weather Radar ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Continental Scale

scholarly journals Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) Severe Weather and Aviation Products: Initial Operating Capabilities

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (9) ◽  
pp. 1617-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis M. Smith ◽  
Valliappa Lakshmanan ◽  
Gregory J. Stumpf ◽  
Kiel L. Ortega ◽  
Kurt Hondl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Severe Weather ◽  
Severe Storms ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Estimation System ◽  
Environmental Prediction ◽  
The University

Abstract The Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system, which was developed at the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the University of Oklahoma, was made operational in 2014 at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The MRMS system consists of the Warning Decision Support System–Integrated Information suite of severe weather and aviation products, and the quantitative precipitation estimation products created by the National Mosaic and Multi-sensor Quantitative Precipitation Estimation system. Products created by the MRMS system are at a spatial resolution of approximately 1 km, with 33 vertical levels, updating every 2 min over the conterminous United States and southern Canada. This paper describes initial operating capabilities for the severe weather and aviation products that include a three-dimensional mosaic of reflectivity; guidance for hail, tornado, and lightning hazards; and nowcasts of storm location, height, and intensity.

scholarly journals Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) Quantitative Precipitation Estimation: Initial Operating Capabilities

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Kenneth Howard ◽  
Carrie Langston ◽  
Brian Kaney ◽  
Youcun Qi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weather Prediction ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction Model ◽  
Weather Radars ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Environmental Prediction ◽  
Very High

Abstract Rapid advancements of computer technologies in recent years made the real-time transferring and integration of high-volume, multisource data at a centralized location a possibility. The Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system recently implemented at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction demonstrates such capabilities by integrating about 180 operational weather radars from the conterminous United States and Canada into a seamless national 3D radar mosaic with very high spatial (1 km) and temporal (2 min) resolution. The radar data can be integrated with high-resolution numerical weather prediction model data, satellite data, and lightning and rain gauge observations to generate a suite of severe weather and quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) products. This paper provides an overview of the initial operating capabilities of MRMS QPE products.

A Neural-Network Quality Control scheme for improved Quantitative Precipitation Estimation accuracy on the UK weather radar network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nawal Husnoo ◽  
Timothy Darlington ◽  
Sebastián Torres ◽  
David Warde
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Weather Radar ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Ground Clutter ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Radar Network ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
The Uk

AbstractIn this work, we present a new Quantitative-Precipitation-Estimation (QPE) quality-control (QC) algorithm for the UK weather radar network. The real-time adaptive algorithm uses a neural network (NN) to select data from the lowest useable elevation scan to optimize the combined performance of two other radar data correction algorithms: ground clutter mitigation (using CLEAN-AP) and vertical profile of reflectivity (VPR) correction. The NN is trained using 3D tiles of observed uncontaminated weather signals that are systematically combined with ground-clutter signals collected under dry weather conditions. This approach provides a way to simulate radar signals with a wide range of clutter contamination conditions and with realistic spatial structures while providing the uncontaminated “truth” with respect to which the performance of the QC algorithm can be measured. An evaluation of QPE products obtained with the proposed QC algorithm demonstrates superior performance as compared to those obtained with the QC algorithm currently used in operations. Similar improvements are also illustrated using radar observations from two periods of prolonged precipitation, showing a better balance between overestimation errors from using clutter-contaminated low-elevation radar data and VPR-induced errors from using high-elevation radar data.

Which Polarimetric Variables Are Important for Weather/No-Weather Discrimination?

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1209-1223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valliappa Lakshmanan ◽  
Christopher Karstens ◽  
John Krause ◽  
Kim Elmore ◽  
Alexander Ryzhkov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Errors In Variables ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Reference Dataset ◽  
Ground Clutter ◽  
Statistical Framework ◽  
The Impact

AbstractRecently, a radar data quality control algorithm has been devised to discriminate between weather echoes and echoes due to nonmeteorological phenomena, such as bioscatter, instrument artifacts, and ground clutter (Lakshmanan et al.), using the values of polarimetric moments at and around a range gate. Because the algorithm was created by optimizing its weights over a large reference dataset, statistical methods can be employed to examine the importance of the different variables in the context of discriminating between weather and no-weather echoes. Among the variables studied for their impact on the ability to identify and censor nonmeteorological artifacts from weather radar data, the method of successive permutations ranks the variance of Zdr, the reflectivity structure of the virtual volume scan, and the range derivative of the differential phase on propagation [PhiDP (Kdp)] as the most important. The same statistical framework can be used to study the impact of calibration errors in variables such as Zdr. The effects of Zdr calibration errors were found to be negligible.

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