Subpixel-Based Precipitation Nowcasting with the Pyramid Lucas–Kanade Optical Flow Technique

Short-term high-resolution quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) is very important for flash-flood warning, navigation safety, and other hydrological applications. This paper proposes a subpixel-based QPF algorithm using a pyramid Lucas–Kanade optical flow technique (SPLK) for short...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ling Li, Zhengwei He, Sheng Chen, Xiongfa Mai, Asi Zhang, Baoqing Hu, Zhi Li, Xinhua Tong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-07-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/7/260
Description
Summary:Short-term high-resolution quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) is very important for flash-flood warning, navigation safety, and other hydrological applications. This paper proposes a subpixel-based QPF algorithm using a pyramid Lucas–Kanade optical flow technique (SPLK) for short-time rainfall forecast. The SPLK tracks the storm on the subpixel level by using the optical flow technique and then extrapolates the precipitation using a linear method through redistribution and interpolation. The SPLK compares with object-based and pixel-based nowcasting algorithms using eight thunderstorm events to assess its performance. The results suggest that the SPLK can perform better nowcasting of precipitation than the object-based and pixel-based algorithms with higher adequacy in tracking and predicting severe storms in 0–2 h lead-time forecasting.
ISSN:2073-4433