Evaluation of WSR-88D Level III and MRMS Rainfall Estimates Against Rain Gauge Observations at the Savannah River Site

Rivera-Giboyeaux, Arelis; Weinbeck, Steve

doi:10.15191/nwajom.2024.1207

Evaluation of WSR-88D Level III and MRMS Rainfall Estimates Against Rain Gauge Observations at the Savannah River Site

Journal Article · Tue Nov 26 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Journal of Operational Meteorology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2024.1207· OSTI ID:2372613

Rivera-Giboyeaux, Arelis ^[1]; Weinbeck, Steve ^[1]

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)

Rainfall data for the Savannah River Site (SRS) has been historically measured by rain gauges. These instruments serve as ground truth for most climatological and weather applications; however, gauge measurements are prone to errors or biases under certain weather conditions. Rainfall estimates from radar reflectivity values have been developed and improved over the years and serve as an alternative or supplement for gauge measurements. This study compares measurements from tipping bucket rain gauges with rainfall estimates from the NOAA NWS WSR-88D Level III hourly rainfall product and the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) gauge-corrected precipitation estimate. Results show good agreement between radar derived amounts and ground measurements, with MRMS values showing correlation coefficients of 0.60-0.95 and RMSE values of less than 1.0 cm (0.4 in). The WSR-88D Level III estimates result in correlation coefficients of 0.46-0.86 and RMSE values of less than 1.3 cm (0.5 in). Few outliers are observed for each data pair and are evaluated against precipitation classification products (WSR-88D Hybrid Hydrometeor Classification product and MRMS Precipitation Flag product). The rain gauges used in this study are not part of the Hydrometeorological Automated Data System (HADS) network used to correct the MRMS estimates and therefore, results of this work provide an independent validation of the MRMS gauge correction scheme.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89303321CEM000080

OSTI ID:: 2372613

Report Number(s):: SRNL-STI--2023-00406

Journal Information:: Journal of Operational Meteorology, Journal Name: Journal of Operational Meteorology Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 12; ISSN 2325-6184

Publisher:: National Weather AssociationCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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