Objective integration of satellite, rain gauge, and radar precipitation estimates in the multisensor precipitation estimator algorithm

Abstract

The Office of Hydrologic Development (OHD) of the National Weather Service (NWS) has developed a precipitation estimation application called the Multisensor Precipitation Estimator (MPE) and deployed at the Weather Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers throughout the nation. The MPE combines radar rainfall estimates with rain gauge measurements and produces a suite of multisensor rainfall estimates. However, because of the limited effective radar coverage due to beam blockage and radar beam overshooting at far ranges of the radar, the radar-gauge multisensor estimates are of limited utility in the mountainous regions, especially in the western United States. Satellite based rainfall estimates, on the other hand, offer complete spatial coverage and provide often the only real-time precipitation estimates in many pockets of the country. Therefore, Satellite Precipitation Estimates (SPE) produced by the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) have been made available for hydrological applications to the NWS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), of which MPE is a component.