TECHNICAL NOTES
Dec 1, 2008

Stability Limit on Numerical Attenuation Correction Algorithm for Single Polarized Radars

Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13, Issue 12

Abstract

The attenuation is considered to be a serious problem when rainfall is measured by C or X -band weather radar. In this study, a stability analysis has been presented which showed that: (1) a numerical attenuation correction algorithm should be unstable if the sum of measured reflectivity at a gate and path integrated attenuation up to the previous gate is greater than an upper limit, which in turn depends on the slope of the specific attenuation curve; (2) two true reflectivities exist for a particular measured reflectivity and both the true reflectivities may need to be retrieved. Besides these, it has also been shown that the attenuation correction scheme can be very sensitive to measurement error when the true reflectivities are greater than or equal to 60dBZ .

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Acknowledgments

The writer acknowledges the informative help from Dr. Peter Rasmussen of the University of Manitoba and Mr. Dave Patrick of Environment Canada.

References

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13Issue 12December 2008
Pages: 1197 - 1201

History

Received: Jul 13, 2007
Accepted: Mar 24, 2008
Published online: Dec 1, 2008
Published in print: Dec 2008

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Authors

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Md Rashedul Islam [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2W2 E-mail: [email protected]

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