Skip to main content

Terrestrial Precipitation Analysis: Operational Method and Required Density of Point Measurements

  • Conference paper
Global Precipitations and Climate Change

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 26))

Abstract

The Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) has established a semi-automatic data processing system to obtain monthly precipitation analyses. This includes components for the collection, storage arui quality-control of all available gauge-measured data. The calculation of areal mean precipitation on a 2.5ยบ grid by using an objective analysis method and the merging of these analyses with results from other sources to get complete global gridded data sets are a part of the routine system as well.

First investigations of the spatial sampling error of the areal mean precipitation totals are performed by using Monte-Carlo-techniques, from which a station density required to get an error of less than 10% can be obtained. Up to now the GPCC has prepared analyses of 24 months (1987,1988). Some intercomparisons of large areal means over the continents are presented for different precipitation data sets (GPCC analyses. Legates climatology, satellite data, accumulated daily forecast results of the ECMWF model).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Arkin, P.A. (1979): The relationship between the fractional coverage of the high cloud and rainfall accumulation during GATE over the B-scale array. Monthly Weather Review, 107, 1382โ€“1387.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Arpe, K. (1991): The hydrological cycle in the ECMWF short range forecats. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 16, 33โ€“60.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Barnes, S.L. (1973): MesoScale, objective map analysis using weighted time- seriesobservations. NOAA Technical Memorandum, ERL NSSL-62 U.S. Department of Commerce, 60 p.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Benichou, P. and O. Le Breton (1987): Pise en compte de la topographie pour la cartographie des champs pluviomรฉtrique statistique. La Mรฉtรฉorologie, Oct. 1987 (see also the contribution of Benichou to this issue).

    Google Scholarย 

  • Behr, O. (1993): Methods for national and regional precipitation distribution assessment. Proc. International Workshop on Analysis Methods of Precipitation on a Global Scale, Koblenz, 14โ€“17 Sept. 1992, WCRP-81, WMO/TD-No. 558, A/77-A/86.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Bussiรฉres, N. and W.D. Hogg (1989): The objective analysis of daily rainfall by distance weighting schemes on a meso-scale grid. Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, Atmosphere-Ocean, 27 (3), 521โ€“541.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Cressman, G.P. (1959): An operational objective analysis system. Monthly Weather Review, 87, 367โ€“374.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • GPCC (1992): Monthly precipitation estimates based on gauge measurements on the continents for the year 1987 (preliminary results) and future requirements. Rep.- No. DWD/K7/WZN-1992/08โ€“1, Offenbach, August 1992 - to order from GPCC.

    Google Scholarย 

  • GPCC (1993): Global area-mean monthly precipitation totals for the year 1988 (preliminary estimates, derived from rain-gauge measurements, satellite observations and numerical weather prediction results). Rep.-No. DWD/K7/WZN-1993/07โ€“1, Offenbach, July 1993 - to order from GPCC.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Janowiak, J. (1992): Tropical rainfall: A comparison of the satellite-derived rainfall estimates with model precipitation forecasts, climatologies and observations. Monthly Weather Review, 120, 448โ€“462.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Jenne, R. and D. Joseph (1985): Sensitivity experiments with different 1 to 500 km scale networks (NCAR). World Meteorological Organisation, WMO/TD-No. 115.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Kirchhofer, W. and B. Sevruk (1992): Mittlere jรคhrliche korrigierte Niederschlagshรถhen 1951โ€“1980. In: Hydrologischer Atlas der Schweiz, Kartenblatt 2.2, Bern.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Legates, D.R. (1987): A climatology of global precipitation. Publ. in Climatology 40 (1), Newark, Delaware, 85 pp.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Phillips, D.L., J. Dolph and D. Marks (1992): A comparison of geostatistical procedures for spatial analysis of precipitation in mountainous terrain. Agricultural and Forest Meteoology, 58, 119โ€“141.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Rudolf, B. (1993): Management and analysis of precipitation data on a routine basis. Proceedings WMO/IAHS Int. Symp. on Precipitation and Evaporation, Vol. 1, 69โ€“76, Slovak Hydromet. Inst., Bratislava, Sept. 1993.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Rudolf, B., H. Hauschild, M. Reiss and U. Schneider (1992): Beitrรคge zum Weltzentmm fรผr Niederschlagsklimatologie - Contributions to the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre. Meteorologische Zeitschrift N.F. 1, 7โ€“84.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Schneider, U., D. Henning, H. Hauschild, M. Reiss and B. Rudolf (1992): Zur Berechnung monatlicher Niederschlagshรถhen aus synoptischen Meldungen. Meteorologische Zeitschrift N.F. 1, 22โ€“31.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Shepard, D. (1968): A two-dimensional interpolation function for irregularly spaced data. Proc. 23rd ACM Nat. Conf., Brandon/Systems Press, Princeton, NJ, 517โ€“524.

    Google Scholarย 

  • Wilheit, T.T., A.T.C. Chang and L.S. Chiรน (1991): Retrieval of monthly rainfall indices from microwave radiometric measurements using probability distribution functions. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 8, 118โ€“136.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • Willmott, C.J., C.M. Rowe and W.D. Philpot (1985): Small-scale climate maps: A sensitivity analysis of some common assumptions associated with grid-point interpolation and contouring. The American Cartographer 12 (1), 5โ€“16.

    Articleย  Google Scholarย 

  • WMO/ICSU (1990): The Global Precipitation Climatology Project-Implememtation and Data Management Plan. World Meteorological Organisation, WMO/TD-No. 367, Geneva, 45 p., 6 app. (see also the Contribution of Arkin to this issue)

    Google Scholarย 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

ยฉ 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Rudolf, B., Hauschild, H., Rueth, W., Schneider, U. (1994). Terrestrial Precipitation Analysis: Operational Method and Required Density of Point Measurements. In: Desbois, M., Dรฉsalmand, F. (eds) Global Precipitations and Climate Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 26. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79268-7_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79268-7_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79270-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79268-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics