Collaborative Research: The Relationship of the Spatial/Temporal Variability of Rain to Scaling

几十年来，科学家们一直在研究降雨的不均匀性。 简单地说，雨滴在落到地面的过程中会碰撞、分裂、聚集并散开。 这引入了各种各样的下降速度，水滴大小和瞬时降雨强度，这些降雨强度对从洪水预报到侵蚀到通信系统可用性的广泛主题产生了重大影响。 这项研究计划将利用一个新开发的雨量传感器网络，对降雨特性进行大量研究。 主要的社会影响属于公共安全和生产力的范畴。 降雨特征对于天气雷达和天气预报模式用于洪水预报以及用于预测沿着陆地链路和卫星的通信中断都是重要的。 本科生将参与这项研究，为下一代科学家的发展创造条件。研究团队将继续研究降雨的空间和时间变化，并加强对尺度的关注。 该团队将通过收集和分析新配置的网络上的时间序列降雨观测来进行降雨的结构和统计探索，该网络由两个2D视频降雨仪（2DVD），六个1D光学降雨仪（1DVD）和21个激光降水仪（LPM）组成。 工作期间要实现的目标包括：探索在更广泛的气象条件下降雨的统计异质性的频率，比较2DVD观测与在LPM的小网络上内插的那些，用不同的邻近仪器表征1DVD估计，使用2DVD数据检测具有与降水的雷达布拉格散射相关的尺度的结构，扩展我们对DSD的缩放及其在统计均匀条件下和各种不同气象条件下的综合参数的理解，开始对地面以上不同高度测量的影响进行初步观察，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得支持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。

Scientists have been studying the non-homogeneity of rainfall for decades. Simply put, raindrops collide, break apart, cluster, and spread out on their way to the ground. This introduces a variety of fall speeds, drop sizes, and instantaneous rainfall intensities that have significant impacts on a wide range of topics from flood forecasting to erosion to communications system availability. This research project will take advantage of a newly developed network of rain sensors to conduct a multitude of studies on rainfall characteristics. The main societal impacts fall under the umbrella of public safety and productivity. Rainfall characteristics are important for weather radars and weather forecast models for flood prediction, and for the prediction of communications drop-outs along land links and satellites. Undergraduate students will participate in the research, allowing for development of the next generation of scientists.The research team will continue their studies into the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall with an enhanced focus on scaling. The team will perform structural and statistical exploration of rain by collecting and analyzing time series rain observations over a newly configured network that consists of two 2D video disdrometers (2DVD), six 1D optical disdrometers (1DVD), and 21 Laser Precipitation Monitors (LPM). The objectives to be addressed during the work period include: exploring the frequency of the statistical heterogeneity of rain in a wider variety of meteorological conditions, comparing 2DVD observations to those interpolated over a small network of LPMs, characterizing the 1DVD estimates with those of different neighboring instruments, using 2DVD data to detect structures having scales relevant to radar Bragg scatter from precipitation, expanding our understanding of the scaling of DSD and their integrated parameters in statistically homogeneous conditions and in a variety of different meteorological conditions, beginning preliminary observations of the effect of measurements at different heights above ground, and combining 2DVD observations from two instruments for unique simultaneity studies.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.