Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations
Commercial microwave link networks allow for the quantification of path integrated precipitation because the attenuation by hydrometeors correlates with rainfall between transmitter and receiver stations. The networks, operated and maintained by cellphone companies, thereby provide completely new an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5f46 |
| _version_ | 1827871027488620544 |
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| author | Gerhard Smiatek Felix Keis Christian Chwala Benjamin Fersch Harald Kunstmann |
| author_facet | Gerhard Smiatek Felix Keis Christian Chwala Benjamin Fersch Harald Kunstmann |
| author_sort | Gerhard Smiatek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Commercial microwave link networks allow for the quantification of path integrated precipitation because the attenuation by hydrometeors correlates with rainfall between transmitter and receiver stations. The networks, operated and maintained by cellphone companies, thereby provide completely new and country wide precipitation measurements. As the density of traditional precipitation station networks worldwide is significantly decreasing, microwave link derived precipitation estimates receive increasing attention not only by hydrologists but also by meteorological and hydrological services. We investigate the potential of microwave derived precipitation estimates for streamflow prediction and water balance analyses, exemplarily shown for an orographically complex region in the German Alps (River Ammer). We investigate the additional value of link derived rainfall estimations combined with station observations compared to station and weather radar derived values. Our river runoff simulation system employs a distributed hydrological model at 100 × 100 m grid resolution. We analyze the potential of microwave link derived precipitation estimates for two episodes of 30 days with typically moderate river flow and an episode of extreme flooding. The simulation results indicate the potential of this novel precipitation monitoring method: a significant improvement in hydrograph reproduction has been achieved in the extreme flooding period that was characterized by a large number of local strong precipitation events. The present rainfall monitoring gauges alone were not able to correctly capture these events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:04:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f9917be228284a6686791461a3ee3166 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:04:10Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f9917be228284a6686791461a3ee31662023-08-09T14:30:24ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-0112303402610.1088/1748-9326/aa5f46Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulationsGerhard Smiatek0Felix Keis1Christian Chwala2Benjamin Fersch3Harald Kunstmann4Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kreuzeckbahnstr.19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanyInstitute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kreuzeckbahnstr.19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanyInstitute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kreuzeckbahnstr.19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanyInstitute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kreuzeckbahnstr.19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanyInstitute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kreuzeckbahnstr.19, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Institute of Geography , University of Augsburg, Augsburg, GermanyCommercial microwave link networks allow for the quantification of path integrated precipitation because the attenuation by hydrometeors correlates with rainfall between transmitter and receiver stations. The networks, operated and maintained by cellphone companies, thereby provide completely new and country wide precipitation measurements. As the density of traditional precipitation station networks worldwide is significantly decreasing, microwave link derived precipitation estimates receive increasing attention not only by hydrologists but also by meteorological and hydrological services. We investigate the potential of microwave derived precipitation estimates for streamflow prediction and water balance analyses, exemplarily shown for an orographically complex region in the German Alps (River Ammer). We investigate the additional value of link derived rainfall estimations combined with station observations compared to station and weather radar derived values. Our river runoff simulation system employs a distributed hydrological model at 100 × 100 m grid resolution. We analyze the potential of microwave link derived precipitation estimates for two episodes of 30 days with typically moderate river flow and an episode of extreme flooding. The simulation results indicate the potential of this novel precipitation monitoring method: a significant improvement in hydrograph reproduction has been achieved in the extreme flooding period that was characterized by a large number of local strong precipitation events. The present rainfall monitoring gauges alone were not able to correctly capture these events.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5f46commercial microwave linkshydrology modelprecipitationrunoff simulation |
| spellingShingle | Gerhard Smiatek Felix Keis Christian Chwala Benjamin Fersch Harald Kunstmann Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations Environmental Research Letters commercial microwave links hydrology model precipitation runoff simulation |
| title | Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| title_full | Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| title_fullStr | Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| title_short | Potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| title_sort | potential of commercial microwave link network derived rainfall for river runoff simulations |
| topic | commercial microwave links hydrology model precipitation runoff simulation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5f46 |
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