Mesoscale and local scale evaluations of quantitative precipitation estimates by weather radar products during a heavy rainfall event.

Basile Pauthier (1) , Benjamin Bois (1) , Thierry Castel (1) , D. Thévenin (2) , Carmela Chateau Smith (3) , Yves Richard (1)

1 BGS - Biogéosciences [UMR 6282]
2 Centre météorologique de Dijon [Météo France]
3 UFR SVTE - UFR Sciences de la Vie, de la Terre et de l'Environnement (Université de Bourgogne)

A 24-hour heavy rainfall event occurred in northeastern France from November 3 to 4, 2014. The accuracy of the quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) by PANTHERE and ANTILOPE radar-based gridded products during this particular event, is examined at both mesoscale and local scale, in comparison with two reference rain-gauge networks. Mesoscale accuracy was assessed for the total rainfall accumulated during the 24-hour event, using the Météo France operational rain-gauge network. Local scale accuracy was assessed for both total event rainfall and hourly rainfall accumulations, using the recently developed HydraVitis high-resolution rain gauge network Evaluation shows that (1) PANTHERE radar-based QPE underestimates rainfall fields at mesoscale and local scale; (2) both PANTHERE and ANTILOPE successfully reproduced the spatial variability of rainfall at local scale; (3) PANTHERE underestimates can be significantly improved at local scale by merging these data with rain gauge data interpolation (i.e., ANTILOPE). This study provides a preliminary evaluation of radar-based QPE at local scale, suggesting that merged products are invaluable for applications at very high resolution. The results obtained underline the importance of using high-density rain-gauge networks to obtain information at high spatial and temporal resolution, for better understanding of local rainfall variation, to calibrate remotely sensed rainfall products.

Domains: Meteorology

Basile Pauthier, Benjamin Bois, Thierry Castel, D. Thévenin, Carmela Chateau Smith, et al.. Mesoscale and local scale evaluations of quantitative precipitation estimates by weather radar products during a heavy rainfall event.. Advances in Meteorology, 2016, 2016, pp.6089319. ⟨10.1155/2016/6089319⟩. ⟨hal-01385646⟩