Hotplate Precipitation and Wind Measurement Improvement

降水是地球系统的重要组成部分。它发生的地点和时间以及数量会影响个人、社区、地区和国家的规划。由于这些原因，测量降水有明确的理由。从科学的角度来看，降水的测量对于了解地球的大气、水文和能量循环非常重要。改进的天气预报和改进的天气通知是通过制作、分析和改进降水测量而产生的两大社会效益。在这个项目中，研究了一个相对较新的降水测量系统——热板计的多个版本。在降水事件期间同时部署多个热板并分析这些系统和事件的数据是研究的基础。目的是增强对热板测量降水和风速的科学信心。定量降水估算是水文气象学中的一个重要问题。QPE的基础是用降水计对降水进行测量。在降雪的情况下，通过称重计获得的测量结果可能会受到量规封顶、降雪登记延迟以及风引起的雪颗粒未捕获的影响。对于其中的每一个，两个因子量级的偏差与目前的理解是一致的。该项目扩展了地面测量降雪的新范例。其基础是由国家大气研究中心和沙漠研究所开发的热板技术。由于加热板的上下表面保持在70摄氏度，这种类型的降水系统不受封顶和延迟错误的影响，其风速测量也不会受到结冰的影响。自2005年以来，一家私营公司获得了销售这种电炉的许可。目前已售出约70辆。对其中一个子集的测试表明，在确定风速方面存在重大误差，因此，在确定雪颗粒捕获效率和降水量方面也存在重大误差。在这个项目中，研究了速度偏置问题的解决方法。本项目旨在建立一种新的速度偏差校正方法对4个并置热板系统的适用性，以及一种新的基于校正风速的雪粒子捕获效率函数的适用性，并通过这些修正使4个并置热板系统获得的风和降水测量结果具有一致性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Precipitation is a vital element of the Earth system. Where and when it occurs, and in what amount, affects the planning of individuals, communities, regions, and nations. For these reasons, there is clear justification for measuring precipitation. From a scientific perspective, the measurement of precipitation is important for understanding Earth's atmospheric, hydrological, and energy cycles. Improved weather forecasts and improved weather notification are two societal benefits that stem from making, analyzing, and improving precipitation measurements. In this project, multiple versions of a relatively new precipitation measurement system, the hotplate gauge, are investigated. Collocated deployment of multiple hotplates during precipitation events and analysis of data from these systems and events, is the basis of the research. The goal is to enhance scientific confidence in hotplate measurements of precipitation and wind speed.A significant problem in hydrometeorology is quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE). The foundation of QPE is measurements of precipitation made with precipitation gauges. In the case of snowfall, measurements obtained from weighing gauges can be compromised by gauge capping, delay in registration of snowfall, and by wind-induced snow particle undercatch. For each of these, bias on the order of a factor of two is consistent with present understanding. This project extends a new paradigm in ground-based measurement of snowfall. The basis is the hotplate technology developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Desert Research Institute. Because a hotplate's upward- and downward-facing surfaces are maintained at 70 degrees Celsius, this type of precipitation system is immune to capping and delay errors and its measurement of wind speed is not compromised by icing. Since 2005, a private company has been licensed to market the hotplate. Approximately 70 have been sold. Testing of a subset of these has revealed substantial error in the determination of wind speed, and thus, in determination of both snow particle catch efficiency and precipitation amount. In this project, a solution to the speed bias problem is investigated. This project aims to establish the applicability of a new speed bias correction for four collocated hotplate systems, the applicability of a new snow particle catch efficiency function based on the corrected wind speed, and that these modifications lead to consistency among the wind and precipitation measurements obtained from the four collocated systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.