Estimation of Average Rainfall Areal Reduction Factors in Texas Using NEXRAD Data
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13, Issue 6
Abstract
Precipitation areal reduction factors (ARFs) for the of Texas were calculated using next generation radar (NEXRAD) rainfall estimates. The study was based on 18,531 storms of different durations that took place in different seasons and regions of Texas. The storms were assumed of elliptical shape. It was found that, in addition to the storm duration and area, other factors such as the season, region, and precipitation depth (i.e., storm total rainfall accumulation for the given duration) have a statistically significant effect on the ARFs. Elongated ellipses and orientation angles somewhat parallel to the Texas gulf coast were found more frequent in winter, when warm and cold fronts produce frontal storms, than in summer. The effect of the precipitation depth on the ARFs was found to be stronger in summer than in winter. Even though part of the ARF variability could be explained by seasonality, regionality, and precipitation depth, the uniqueness of each storm event appears to be an important cause of this variability. Lower ARF values were observed compared to previous studies.
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Acknowledgments
This research study was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The writers would like to thank Rose Marie Klee and David Stolpa with TxDOT, and Richard Fulton, Seann Reed, and Greg Shelton with the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) for their valuable input. The comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13 • Issue 6 • June 2008
Pages: 438 - 448
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 13, 2006
Accepted: Jun 4, 2007
Published online: Jun 1, 2008
Published in print: Jun 2008
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