scholarly journals Orographic Enhancement of Precipitation over Low Mountain Ranges. Part II: Simulations of Heavy Precipitation Events over Southwest Germany

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1041-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kunz ◽  
Christoph Kottmeier

Abstract A diagnostic precipitation model that combines linear theory of hydrostatic flow with parameterized microphysics is applied to several stratiform heavy precipitation events over the low mountain ranges of southwestern Germany. Model-simulated rainfall is in good agreement with observations in both magnitude and location, yielding correlation coefficients against observational data between 0.74 and 0.90. Two events that caused local flooding over and near the Black Forest mountains, on 11–13 December 1997 and on 28–29 October 1998, are discussed in detail. Results show that, in addition to orographic features, wind speed U, moist static stability Nm, and melting level are important parameters to describe the amount and spatial distribution of orographic precipitation. The effect of hydrometeor drifting significantly reduces the precipitation peaks near the crests, and the inclusion of evaporation decreases precipitation mainly in descent regions downstream of the mountains. Using the upslope approach instead of linear theory, the precipitation intensities increase substantially and primarily over and downstream of the mountain peaks, whereas the maxima are shifted slightly downstream. The best simulation results relative to the observations were obtained on a 2.5-km grid, whereas areal rainfall is underestimated by about 10% on a 5-km grid and by about 35% on a 10-km grid.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoying Huang ◽  
Junjun Hu ◽  
Sheng Chen ◽  
Asi Zhang ◽  
Zhenqing Liang ◽  
...  

This study assesses the performance of the latest version 05B (V5B) Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) (IMERG) Early and Final Runs over southern China during six extremely heavy precipitation events brought by six powerful typhoons from 2016 to 2017. Observations from a dense network composed of 2449 rain gauges are used as reference to quantify the performance in terms of spatiotemporal variability, probability distribution of precipitation rates, contingency scores, and bias analysis. The results show that: (1) both IMERG with gauge calibration (IMERG_Cal) and without gauge correction (IMERG_Uncal) generally capture the spatial patterns of storm-accumulated precipitation with moderate to high correlation coefficients (CCs) of 0.57–0.87, and relative bias (RB) varying from −17.21% to 30.58%; (2) IMERG_Uncal and IMERG_Cal capture well the area-average hourly series of precipitation over rainfall centers with high CCs ranging from 0.78 to 0.94; (3) IMERG_Cal tends to underestimate precipitation especially the rainfall over the rainfall centers when compared to IMERG_Uncal. The IMERG Final Run shows promising potentials in typhoon-related extreme precipitation storm applications. This study is expected to give useful feedbacks about the latest V5B Final Run IMERG product to both algorithm developers and the scientific end users, providing a better understanding of how well the V5B IMERG products capture the typhoon extreme precipitation events over southern China.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen B. Cocks ◽  
Lin Tang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Alexander Ryzhkov ◽  
Brian Kaney ◽  
...  

Abstract The quantitative precipitation estimate (QPE) algorithm developed and described in Part I was validated using data collected from 33 Weather Surveillance Radar 1988-Doppler (WSR-88D) radars on 37 calendar days east of the Rocky Mountains. A key physical parameter to the algorithm is the parameter alpha α, defined as the ratio of specific attenuation A to specific differential phase KDP. Examination of a significant sample of tropical and continental precipitation events indicated that α was sensitive to changes in drop size distribution and exhibited lower (higher) values when there were lower (higher) concentrations of larger (smaller) rain drops. As part of the performance assessment, the prototype algorithm generated QPEs utilizing a real-time estimated and a fixed α were created and evaluated. The results clearly indicated ~26% lower errors and a 26% better bias ratio with the QPE utilizing a real-time estimated α as opposed to using a fixed value as was done in previous studies. Comparisons between the QPE utilizing a real-time estimated α and the operational dual-polarization (dual-pol) QPE used on the WSR-88D radar network showed the former exhibited ~22% lower errors, 7% less bias, and 5% higher correlation coefficient when compared to quality controlled gauge totals. The new QPE also provided much better estimates for moderate to heavy precipitation events and performed better in regions of partial beam blockage than the operational dual-pol QPE.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 924
Author(s):  
Astrid Stobbe ◽  
Maren Gumnior

In the Central German Uplands, Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies have been particularly affected by climate change. With the establishment of beech forests about 3000 years ago and pure spruce stands 500 years ago, they might be regarded as ‘neophytes’ in the Hessian forests. Palaeoecological investigations at wetland sites in the low mountain ranges and intramontane basins point to an asynchronous vegetation evolution in a comparatively small but heterogenous region. On the other hand, palynological data prove that sustainably managed woodlands with high proportions of Tilia have been persisting for several millennia, before the spread of beech took place as a result of a cooler and wetter climate and changes in land management. In view of increasingly warmer and drier conditions, Tilia cordata appears especially qualified to be an important silvicultural constituent of the future, not only due to its tolerance towards drought, but also its resistance to browsing, and the ability to reproduce vegetatively. Forest managers should be encouraged to actively promote the return to more stress-tolerant lime-dominated woodlands, similar to those that existed in the Subboreal chronozone.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Ya. Groisman ◽  
Richard W. Knight ◽  
Thomas R. Karl

Abstract In examining intense precipitation over the central United States, the authors consider only days with precipitation when the daily total is above 12.7 mm and focus only on these days and multiday events constructed from such consecutive precipitation days. Analyses show that over the central United States, a statistically significant redistribution in the spectra of intense precipitation days/events during the past decades has occurred. Moderately heavy precipitation events (within a 12.7–25.4 mm day−1 range) became less frequent compared to days and events with precipitation totals above 25.4 mm. During the past 31 yr (compared to the 1948–78 period), significant increases occurred in the frequency of “very heavy” (the daily rain events above 76.2 mm) and extreme precipitation events (defined as daily and multiday rain events with totals above 154.9 mm or 6 in.), with up to 40% increases in the frequency of days and multiday extreme rain events. Tropical cyclones associated with extreme precipitation do not significantly contribute to the changes reported in this study. With time, the internal precipitation structure (e.g., mean and maximum hourly precipitation rates within each preselected range of daily or multiday event totals) did not noticeably change. Several possible causes of observed changes in intense precipitation over the central United States are discussed and/or tested.


2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 17224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Del-Mar Vich ◽  
Romualdo Romero ◽  
Evelyne Richard ◽  
Philippe Arbogast ◽  
Karine Maynard

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haowen Yue ◽  
Mekonnen Gebremichael

<p>This study evaluates the short-to-medium range precipitation forecasts from Global Forecast System for 14 major transboundary river basins in Africa against GPM IMERG “Early”, IMERG “Final”, and CHIRPSv2 products. Daily precipitation forecasts with lead times of 1-day, 5-day, 10-day, and 15-day and accumulated precipitation forecasts with periods of 1-day, 5-day, 10-day, and 15-day are investigated. The 14 selected basins are (1) Senegal; (2) Volta; (3) Niger; (4) Chad; (5) Nile; (6) Awash; (7) Congo; (8) Omo Gibe; (9) Tana; (10) Pangani; (11) Zambezi; (12) Okavango; (13) Limpopo and (14) Orange. For each basin, several sub-basins are defined by the major dams in the basin. Our preliminary results in the Nile river basin show that in terms of temporal variability, there was a good agreement between the forecasted and observed accumulated precipitation on a 15-day basis. When compared to IMERG “Final”, the correlation coefficients of accumulated GFS forecasts scored as high as 0.75. Thus, GFS products provide relatively reliable accumulated precipitation forecasts. However, the precipitation forecasts were mostly biased: they tend to overpredict rainfall for the eastern part of the Nile river, underestimate rainfall for the northern part of the Nile river and produce almost unbiased estimates for the southern part of the river. Additionally, GFS forecasts have a general tendency to underpredict the area of precipitation across the Nile basin. Although the performance of GFS varies at different locations, the GFS precipitation forecasts can be a good reference to dam operators in Africa. </p>


Author(s):  
Olivia VanBuskirk ◽  
Paulina Ćwik ◽  
Renee A. McPherson ◽  
Heather Lazrus ◽  
Elinor Martin ◽  
...  

AbstractHeavy precipitation events and their associated flooding can have major impacts on communities and stakeholders. There is a lack of knowledge, however, about how stakeholders make decisions at the sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescales (i.e., two weeks to three months). To understand how decisions are made and S2S predictions are or can be used, the project team for “Prediction of Rainfall Extremes at Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Periods” (PRES2iP) conducted a two-day workshop in Norman, Oklahoma, during July 2018. The workshop engaged 21 professionals from environmental management and public safety communities across the contiguous United States in activities to understand their needs for S2S predictions of potential extended heavy precipitation events. Discussions and role-playing activities aimed to identify how workshop participants manage uncertainty and define extreme precipitation, the timescales over which they make key decisions, and the types of products they use currently. This collaboration with stakeholders has been an integral part of PRES2iP research and has aimed to foster actionable science. The PRES2iP team is using the information produced from this workshop to inform the development of predictive models for extended heavy precipitation events and to collaboratively design new forecast products with our stakeholders, empowering them to make more-informed decisions about potential extreme precipitation events.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document