Evaluation of Error Indices of Radar Rain Rate Targeting Rainfall-Runoff Analysis
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 9
Abstract
This study evaluates several error indices of the radar rain rate from the viewpoint of the accuracy of rainfall-runoff analysis. The error indices considered in this study are the mean error (ME), mean absolute error (MAE), normalized standard deviation (NSD), correlation coefficient (CC), bias (BS), and radar rain rate quality criterion (RRQC). These indices were analyzed using the concept of sum of squares (SS) and mean squares (MS) in the analysis of variance (ANOVA), which explains how the bias and random error of the radar rain rate are combined in an error index. Also, these error indices were linked to the errors in the runoff result, such as the total runoff volume, peak flow, and peak time. As an application, two dam basins in Korea were selected, the Chungju Dam basin and the Namgang Dam basin. The radar rain rates from Gwangdeoksan Radar and Gudeoksan Radar were used as input for the rainfall-runoff analysis. Six different rainfall events were applied to secure various rainfall types. As a result, it was found that ME, BS, and RRQC were linearly proportional to the errors in the runoff result. This result indicates that the bias plays a dominant role in the evaluation of the radar rain rate, targeting the rainfall-runoff analysis.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program, through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2013R1A1A2011012).
References
Anagnostou, E. N., Krajewski, W. F., Seo, D. J., and Johnson, E. R. (1998). “Mean-field rainfall bias studies for WSR-88D.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 3(149), 149–159.
Choi, J., Kim, Y., and Oh, S. (2005). “A verification of VSRF model in five river basins.” Asia-Pac. J. Atmos. Sci., 41(3), 347–357.
Choi, Y. S., Kim, K. T., and Shim, M. P. (2010). “Discharge estimation at ungauged catchment using distributed rainfall-runoff model.” J. Korea Water Resour. Assoc., 43(4), 353–365.
Chumchean, S., Seed, A., and Sharma, A. (2006). “Correcting of real-time radar rainfall bias using a Kalman filtering approach.” J. Hydrol., 317(1–2), 123–137.
Ciach, G. J., Krajewski, W. F., and Villarini, G. (2007). “Product-error-driven uncertainty model for probabilistic quantitative precipitation estimation with NEXRAD data.” J. Hydrometeorol., 8(6), 1325–1347.
Curtis, D. C., and Burnash, R. J. (1996). “Inadvertent rain gauge inconsistencies and their effect on hydrologic analysis.” California-Nevada ALERT Users Group Conf., Ventura, CA, ALERT Users Group, Marysville, CA, 15–17.
Emerson, C., Welty, C., and Traver, R. (2005). “Watershed-scale evaluation of a system of storm water detention basins.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 237–242.
Feldman, A. D. (2000). “Hydrologic modeling system HEC-HMS: Technical reference manual.” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center, CA.
Hu, H., Kreymborg, L., Doeing, B., Baron, K., and Jutila, S. (2006). “Gridded snowmelt and rainfall-runoff CWMS hydrologic modeling of the Red River of the north basin.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 91–100.
Joss, J., and Pittini, A. (1991). “Real-time estimation of the vertical profile of radar reflectivity to improve the measurement of precipitation in an alpine region.” Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 47(1), 61–72.
Kim, K., Choi, J., and Yoo, C. (2008). “Synthesis of radar measurements and ground measurements using the successive correction method (SCM).” J. Korea Water Resour. Assoc., 41(7), 681–692.
Koutroulis, A. G., and Tsanis, I. K. (2010). “A method for estimating flash flood peak discharge in a poorly gauged basin: Case study for the 13-14 January 1994 flood, Giofiros basin, Crete, Greece.” J. Hydrol., 385(1–4), 150–164.
Krajewski, W. F., and Smith, J. A. (2002). “Radar hydrology: Rainfall estimation.” Adv. Water Resour., 25(8), 1387–1394.
Kull, D. W., and Feldman, A. D. (1998). “Evolution of Clark’s unit graph method to spatially distributed runoff.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 9–19.
Lee, G., and Zawadzki, I. (2006). “Radar calibration by gage, disdrometer, and polarimetry: Theoretical limit caused by the variability of drop size distribution and application to fast scanning operation radar data.” J. Hydrol., 328(1–2), 83–97.
Lee, J., Yoo, C., and Shin, J. (2013). “Theoretical backgrounds of basin concentration time and storage coefficient and their empirical formula.” J. Korea Water Resour. Assoc., 46(2), 155–169.
Norbiato, D., Borga, M., Degli Esposti, S., Gaume, E., and Anquetin, S. (2008). “Flash flood warning based on rainfall thresholds and soil moisture conditions: An assessment for gauged and ungauged basins.” J. Hydrol., 362(3), 274–290.
Paturel, J. E., Servat, E., and Vassiliadis, A. (1995). “Sensitivity of conceptual rainfall-runoff algorithms to errors in input data—Case of the GR2M model.” J. Hydrol., 168(1), 111–125.
Paudel, M., Nelson, E., and Scharffenberg, W. (2009). “Comparison of lumped and quasi-distributed Clark runoff models using the SCS curve number equation.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 1098–1106.
Seo, D. J. (1998). “Real-time estimation of rainfall fields using radar rainfall and rain gage data.” J. Hydrol., 208(1), 37–52.
Sharif, H. O., Ogden, F. L., Krajewski, W. F., and Xue, M. (2004). “Statistical analysis of radar rainfall error propagation.” J. Hydrometeorol., 5(1), 199–212.
Steiner, M., Smith, J. A., Burges, S. J., Alonso, C. V., and Darden, R. W. (1999). “Effect of bias adjustment and rain gauge data quality control on radar rainfall estimation.” Water Resour. Res., 35(8), 2487–2503.
Suk, M., Nam, K., and Nam, J. (2005). “Real-time estimation and verification of the high-resolution rain rate data.” Proc., Autumn Meeting of Korea Meteorological Society, Korea Meteorological Society, Seoul, 148–149.
Sun, X., Mein, R. G., Keenan, T. D., and Elliott, J. F. (2000). “Flood estimation using radar and raingauge data.” J. Hydrol., 239(1), 4–18.
Todini, E. (2001). “A Bayesian technique for conditioning radar precipitation estimates to rain-gauge measurements.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 5(2), 187–199.
Vischel, T., and Lebel, T. (2007). “Assessing the water balance in the Sahel: Impact of small scale rainfall variability on runoff. Part 2: Idealized modeling of runoff sensitivity.” J. Hydrol., 333(2), 340–355.
Wilson, J. W., and Brandes, E. A. (1979). “Radar measurement of rainfall: A summary.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 60(9), 1048–1058.
Yoo, C., Kim, J., and Yoon, J. (2012a). “Uncertainty of areal average rainfall and its effect on runoff simulation: A case study for the Chungju Dam basin, Korea.” KSCE J. Civ. Eng., 16(6), 1085–1092.
Yoo, C., Lee, J., Park, C., and Jun, C. (2014). “Method for estimating concentration time and storage coefficient of the Clark model using rainfall-runoff measurements.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 626–634.
Yoo, C., Yoon, J., and Ha, E. (2010). “Sampling error of area average rainfall due to radar partial coverage.” Stochastic Environ. Res. Risk Assess., 24(8), 1097–1111.
Yoo, C., Yoon, J., Kim, J., Park, C., and Jun, C. (2012b). “A quality evaluation criterion for radar rain rate data.” IAHS-AISH Publ., 351, 382–387.
Yoon, S. (2006). “Applicability of radar rainfall estimation for runoff analysis.” M.S. thesis, Sejong Univ., Seoul.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 9 • September 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 17, 2014
Accepted: Feb 4, 2016
Published online: May 10, 2016
Published in print: Sep 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Oct 10, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.