scholarly journals Rain Area Detection in South-Western Kenya by Using Multispectral Satellite Data from Meteosat Second Generation

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 3547
Author(s):  
Kumah K. Kingsley ◽  
Ben H. P. Maathuis ◽  
Joost C. B. Hoedjes ◽  
Donald T. Rwasoka ◽  
Bas V. Retsios ◽  
...  

This study presents a rain area detection scheme that uses a gradient based adaptive technique for daytime and nighttime rain area detection and correction from reflectance and infrared (IR) brightness temperatures data of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. First, multiple parametric rain detection models developed from MSG’s reflectance and IR data were calibrated and validated with rainfall data from a dense network of rain gauge stations and investigated to determine the best model parameters. The models were based on a conceptual assumption that clouds characterised by the top properties, e.g., high optical thickness and effective radius, have high rain probabilities and intensities. Next, a gradient based adaptive correction technique that relies on rain area-specific parameters was developed to reduce the number and sizes of the detected rain areas. The daytime detection with optical (VIS0.6) and near IR (NIR1.6) reflectance data achieved the best detection skill. For nighttime, detection with thermal IR brightness temperature differences of IR3.9-IR10.8, IR3.9-WV73 and IR108-WV62 showed the best detection skill based on general categorical statistics. Compared to the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Mult-isatellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) and the gauge station data from the southwest of Kenya, the model showed good agreement in the spatial dynamics of the detected rain area and rain rate.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3274
Author(s):  
Kingsley K. Kumah ◽  
Joost C. B. Hoedjes ◽  
Noam David ◽  
Ben H. P. Maathuis ◽  
H. Oliver Gao ◽  
...  

Commercial microwave link (MWL) used by mobile telecom operators for data transmission can provide hydro-meteorologically valid rainfall estimates according to studies in the past decade. For the first time, this study investigated a new method, the MSG technique, that uses Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite data to improve MWL rainfall estimates. The investigation, conducted during daytime, used MSG optical (VIS0.6) and near IR (NIR1.6) data to estimate rain areas along a 15 GHz, 9.88 km MWL for classifying the MWL signal into wet–dry periods and estimate the baseline level. Additionally, the MSG technique estimated a new parameter, wet path length, representing the length of the MWL that was wet during wet periods. Finally, MWL rainfall intensity estimates from this new MSG and conventional techniques were compared to rain gauge estimates. The results show that the MSG technique is robust and can estimate gauge comparable rainfall estimates. The evaluation scores every three hours of RMSD, relative bias, and r2 based on the entire evaluation period results of the MSG technique were 2.61 mm h−1, 0.47, and 0.81, compared to 2.09 mm h−1, 0.04, and 0.84 of the conventional technique, respectively. For convective rain events with high intensity spatially varying rainfall, the results show that the MSG technique may approximate the actual mean rainfall estimates better than the conventional technique.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 909-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohiko Masunaga ◽  
Christian D. Kummerow

Abstract A methodology to analyze precipitation profiles using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and precipitation radar (PR) is proposed. Rainfall profiles are retrieved from PR measurements, defined as the best-fit solution selected from precalculated profiles by cloud-resolving models (CRMs), under explicitly defined assumptions of drop size distribution (DSD) and ice hydrometeor models. The PR path-integrated attenuation (PIA), where available, is further used to adjust DSD in a manner that is similar to the PR operational algorithm. Combined with the TMI-retrieved nonraining geophysical parameters, the three-dimensional structure of the geophysical parameters is obtained across the satellite-observed domains. Microwave brightness temperatures are then computed for a comparison with TMI observations to examine if the radar-retrieved rainfall is consistent in the radiometric measurement space. The inconsistency in microwave brightness temperatures is reduced by iterating the retrieval procedure with updated assumptions of the DSD and ice-density models. The proposed methodology is expected to refine the a priori rain profile database and error models for use by parametric passive microwave algorithms, aimed at the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, as well as a future TRMM algorithms.


2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 781-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan J. Gourley ◽  
Scott E. Giangrande ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
Zachary L. Flamig ◽  
Terry Schuur ◽  
...  

Abstract Rainfall estimated from the polarimetric prototype of the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler [WSR-88D (KOUN)] was evaluated using a dense Micronet rain gauge network for nine events on the Ft. Cobb research watershed in Oklahoma. The operation of KOUN and its upgrade to dual polarization was completed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Storm events included an extreme rainfall case from Tropical Storm Erin that had a 100-yr return interval. Comparisons with collocated Micronet rain gauge measurements indicated all six rainfall algorithms that used polarimetric observations had lower root-mean-squared errors and higher Pearson correlation coefficients than the conventional algorithm that used reflectivity factor alone when considering all events combined. The reflectivity based relation R(Z) was the least biased with an event-combined normalized bias of −9%. The bias for R(Z), however, was found to vary significantly from case to case and as a function of rainfall intensity. This variability was attributed to different drop size distributions (DSDs) and the presence of hail. The synthetic polarimetric algorithm R(syn) had a large normalized bias of −31%, but this bias was found to be stationary. To evaluate whether polarimetric radar observations improve discharge simulation, recent advances in Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation using the Hydrology Laboratory Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (HL-RDHM) were used. This Bayesian approach infers the posterior probability density function of model parameters and output predictions, which allows us to quantify HL-RDHM uncertainty. Hydrologic simulations were compared to observed streamflow and also to simulations forced by rain gauge inputs. The hydrologic evaluation indicated that all polarimetric rainfall estimators outperformed the conventional R(Z) algorithm, but only after their long-term biases were identified and corrected.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 10739-10780
Author(s):  
V. Ruiz-Villanueva ◽  
M. Borga ◽  
D. Zoccatelli ◽  
L. Marchi ◽  
E. Gaume ◽  
...  

Abstract. The 2 June 2008 flood-producing storm on the Starzel river basin in South-West Germany is examined as a prototype for organized convective systems that dominate the upper tail of the precipitation frequency distribution and are likely responsible for the flash flood peaks in this region. The availability of high-resolution rainfall estimates from radar observations and a rain gauge network, together with indirect peak discharge estimates from a detailed post-event survey, provides the opportunity to study the hydrometeorological and hydrological mechanisms associated with this extreme storm and the ensuing flood. Radar-derived rainfall, streamgauge data and indirect estimates of peak discharges are used along with a distributed hydrologic model to reconstruct hydrographs at multiple locations. The influence of storm structure, evolution and motion on the modeled flood hydrograph is examined by using the "spatial moments of catchment rainfall" (Zoccatelli et al., 2011). It is shown that downbasin storm motion had a noticeable impact on flood peak magnitude. Small runoff ratios (less than 20%) characterized the runoff response. The flood response can be reasonably well reproduced with the distributed hydrological model, using high resolution rainfall observations and model parameters calibrated at a river section which includes most of the area impacted by the storm.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Favrichon ◽  
Carlos Jimenez ◽  
Catherine Prigent

Abstract. Microwave remote sensing can be used to monitor the time evolution of some key parameters over land, such as land surface temperature or surface water extent. Observations are made with instrument such as the Scanning Microwave Multichannel Radiometer (SMMR) before 1987, the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the following Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) from 1987 and still operating, to the more recent Global Precipitation Mission Microwave Imager (GMI). As these instruments differ on some of their characteristics and use different calibration schemes, they need to be inter-calibrated before long time series products can be derived from the observations. Here an inter-calibration method is designed to remove major inconsistencies between the SMMR and other microwave radiometers for the 18 GHz and 37 GHz channels over continental surfaces. Because of a small overlap in observations and a ~6 h difference in overpassing times between SMMR and SSM/I, GMI was chosen as a reference despite the lack of a common observing period. The diurnal cycles from three years of GMI brightness temperatures are first calculated, and then used to evaluate SMMR differences. Based on a statistical analysis of the differences, a simple linear correction is implemented to calibrate SMMR on GMI. This correction is shown to also reduce the biases between SMMR and SSM/I, and can then be applied to SMMR observations to make them more coherent with existing data record of microwave brightness temperatures over continental surfaces.


2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 1195-1215
Author(s):  
Ruiyao Chen ◽  
Ralf Bennartz

AbstractThe sensitivity of microwave brightness temperatures (TBs) to hydrometeors at frequencies between 89 and 190 GHz is investigated by comparing Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) Microwave Humidity Sounder-2 (MWHS-2) measurements with radar reflectivity profiles and retrieved products from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission’s Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR). Scattering-induced TB depressions (ΔTBs), calculated by subtracting simulated cloud-free TBs from bias-corrected observed TBs for each channel, are compared with DPR-retrieved hydrometeor water path (HWP) and vertically integrated radar reflectivity ZINT. We also account for the number of hydrometeors actually visible in each MWHS-2 channel by weighting HWP with the channel’s cloud-free gas transmission profile and the observation slant path. We denote these transmission-weighted, slant-path-integrated quantities with a superscript asterisk (e.g., HWP*). The so-derived linear sensitivity of ΔTB with respect to HWP* increases with frequency roughly to the power of 1.78. A retrieved HWP* of 1 kg m−2 at 89 GHz on average corresponds to a decrease in observed TB, relative to a cloud-free background, of 11 K. At 183 GHz, the decrease is about 34–53 K. We perform a similar analysis using the vertically integrated, transmission-weighted slant-path radar reflectivity and find that ΔTB also decreases approximately linearly with . The exponent of 0.58 corresponds to the one we find in the purely DPR-retrieval-based ZINT–HWP relation. The observed sensitivities of ΔTB with respect to and HWP* allow for the validation of hydrometeor scattering models.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syachrul Arief

<p>The huge amount of water vapor in the atmosphere caused disastrous heavy rain and floods in early July 2018 in SW Japan. Here I present a comprehensive space geodetic study of water brought by this heavy rain done by using a dense network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. </p><p>First, I reconstruct sea level precipitable water vapor above land region on the heavy rain. The total amount of water vapor derived by spatially integrating precipitable water vapor on land was ~25.8 Gt, which corresponds to the bucket size to carry water from ocean to land. I then compiled the precipitation measured with a rain radar network. The data showed the total precipitation by this heavy rain as ~22.11 Gt.</p><p>Next, I studied the crustal subsidence caused by the rainwater as the surface load. The GNSS stations located under the heavy rain area temporarily subsided 1-2 centimeters and the subsidence mostly recovered in a day. Using such vertical crustal movement data, I estimated the distribution of surface water in SW Japan. </p><p>The total amount of the estimated water load on 6 July 2018 was ~68.2 Gt, which significantly exceeds the cumulative on-land rainfalls of the heavy rain day from radar rain gauge analyzed precipitation data. I consider that such an amplification of subsidence originates from the selective deployment of GNSS stations in the concave places, e.g. along valleys and within basins, in the mountainous Japanese Islands.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruanyu Zhang ◽  
Christian D. Kummerow ◽  
David L. Randel ◽  
Paula J. Brown ◽  
Wesley Berg ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study focuses on the tropical cyclone rainfall retrieval using FY-3B Microwave Radiation Imager (MWRI) brightness temperatures (Tbs). The GPROF, a fully parametric approach based on the Bayesian scheme, is adapted for use by the MWRI sensor. The MWRI GPROF algorithm is an ocean-only scheme used to estimate rain rates and hydrometeor vertical profiles. An a priori database is constructed from MWRI simulated Tbs, the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) combined data, and ancillary data resulting in about 100 000 rainfall profiles. The performance of MWRI retrievals is consistent with DPR observations, even though MWRI retrievals slightly overestimate low rain rates and underestimate high rain rates. The total bias of MWRI retrievals is less than 13% of the mean rain rate of DPR precipitation. Statistical comparisons over GMI GPROF, GMI Hurricane GPROF (HGPROF), and MWRI GPROF retrievals show MWRI GPROF retrievals are consistent in terms of spatial distribution and rain estimates for TCs compared with the other two estimates. In terms of the global precipitation, the mean rain rates at different distances from best track locations for five TC categories are used to identify substantial differences between mean MWRI and GMI GPROF retrievals. After correcting the biases between MWRI and GMI retrievals, the performance of MWRI retrievals shows slight overestimate for light rain rates while underestimating rain rates near the eyewall for category 4 and 5 only.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Tapiador ◽  
Andrés Navarro ◽  
Eduardo García-Ortega ◽  
Andrés Merino ◽  
José Luis Sánchez ◽  
...  

AbstractAfter 5 years in orbit, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has produced enough quality-controlled data to allow the first validation of their precipitation estimates over Spain. High-quality gauge data from the meteorological network of the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) are used here to validate Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) level 3 estimates of surface precipitation. While aggregated values compare notably well, some differences are found in specific locations. The research investigates the sources of these discrepancies, which are found to be primarily related to the underestimation of orographic precipitation in the IMERG satellite products, as well as to the number of available gauges in the GPCC gauges used for calibrating IMERG. It is shown that IMERG provides suboptimal performance in poorly instrumented areas but that the estimate improves greatly when at least one rain gauge is available for the calibration process. A main, generally applicable conclusion from this research is that the IMERG satellite-derived estimates of precipitation are more useful (r2 > 0.80) for hydrology than interpolated fields of rain gauge measurements when at least one gauge is available for calibrating the satellite product. If no rain gauges were used, the results are still useful but with decreased mean performance (r2 ≈ 0.65). Such figures, however, are greatly improved if no coastal areas are included in the comparison. Removing them is a minor issue in terms of hydrologic impacts, as most rivers in Spain have their sources far from the coast.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Suliman Hanaish ◽  
Kamarulzaman Ibrahim ◽  
Abdul Aziz Jemain

Three versions of Bartlett Lewis rectangular pulse rainfall models, namely, the Original Bartlett Lewis (OBL), Modified Bartlett Lewis (MBL), and 2N-cell-type Bartlett Lewis model (BL2n), are considered. These models are fitted to the hourly rainfall data from 1970 to 2008 obtained from Petaling Jaya rain gauge station, located in Peninsular Malaysia. The generalized method of moments is used to estimate the model parameters. Under this method, minimization of two different objective functions which involve different weight functions, one weight is inversely proportional to the variance and another one is inversely proportional to the mean squared, is carried out using Nelder-Mead optimization technique. For the purpose of comparison of the performance of the three different models, the results found for the months of July and November are used for illustration. This performance is assessed based on the goodness of fit of the models. In addition, the sensitivity of the parameter estimates to the choice of the objective function is also investigated. It is found thatBL2nslightly outperformsOBL. However, the best model is the Modified Bartlett LewisMBL, particularly when the objective function considered involves weight which is inversely proportional to the variance.


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