Collaborative Research: Use of NEXRAD Data to Estimate Rainfall Rate and Rainfall Kinetic Energy Flux

拟议的研究将集中于描述降水及其侵蚀力的各个方面。该工作将展示如何利用雷达同时提供降雨率和降雨动能，同时覆盖大面积，具有高时空分辨率。降雨强度和动能是与土壤侵蚀有关的降水方面的特征，必须对其进行准确监测，以便更好地估计土壤损失。相对稀疏的雨量计网络已被用来估计长期土壤流失。使用雷达的最大潜在好处之一是扩大这种稀疏的测量网络，为受侵蚀的地区提供全面的覆盖。利用WSR-88D（1988多普勒天气监视雷达）新一代天气雷达（NEXRAD）网络提供的最新雷达信息，可能会获得改进的估计和更大的灵活性，并创造研究机会。我们将深入探讨雷达在土壤侵蚀研究中的有用性和局限性，并调查降雨率和降雨动能的时空分布。将对基于雷达的估算降水侵蚀力的方法与目前完全依赖雨量记录的做法进行详细的比较，以测试其性能。这项研究将以在密西西比州北部古德温河流域收集的数据为基础。这一分水岭在两架NEXRAD wsr - 88d的雷达覆盖范围内，分别是田纳西州的孟菲斯和阿肯色州的小石城。我们将使用孟菲斯雷达的数据因为它离汇水区很近。除了古德温河流域现有的雨量计外，我们还将部署一个分流仪，自动测量雨滴的大小分布。

9528886 Smith The proposed research will focus on describing aspects of precipitation and its erosivity. The work will show how to make use of radar to provide rainfall rate and rainfall kinetic energy concurrently, while covering a large area with high spatial and temporal resolution. Rainfall intensity and kinetic energy characterize the aspects of precipitation relevant to soil erosion and have to be monitored accurately to obtain improved soil loss estimates. Relatively sparse networks of raingauges have been used to estimate long-term soil loss. One of the largest potential benefits of using radar is augmenting such sparse gauge networks to provide comprehensive coverage for areas that are subject to erosion. Improved estimation and greater flexibility are likely to be gained and research opportunities created by making use of the newly available radar information provided by the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) network of WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988 Doppler). We will explore in depth the usefulness and limitations of radar for soil erosion studies and investigate and spatial and temporal distributions of rain rate and rainfall kinetic energy. Detailed comparisons will be made to test the performance of the radar-based approach to estimate precipitation erosivity versus present practice which depends exclusively on raingauge records. The study will be made on the basis of data collected in the Goodwin Creek research watershed in northern Mississippi. This watershed is under radar coverage from two NEXRAD WSR-88Ds, Memphis (Tennessee) and Little Rock (Arkansas). We will use data from the Memphis radar because of its proximity to the catchment. In addition to the existing raingauges in the already highly instrumented Goodwin Creek watershed, we will deploy a disdrometer for the automated measurement of raindrop size Distributions.