New Book on Rainfall

The American Geophysical Union recently published a new book on rainfall, Rainfall: State of the Science, which contains a chapter co-authored by HMT researcher Rob Cifelli and V. Chandrasekar of Colorado State University.

This book aims to synthesize the three main aspects of rainfall: microphysics, measurement and estimation, and statistical analyses:

• Rainfall microphysics: raindrop morphodynamics, interactions, size distribution, and evolution
• Rainfall measurement and estimation: ground-based direct measurement (disdrometer and rain gauge), weather radar rainfall estimation, polarimetric radar rainfall estimation, and satellite rainfall estimation
• Statistical analyses: intensity-duration-frequency curves, frequency analysis of extreme events, spatial analyses, simulation and disaggregation, ensemble approach for radar rainfall uncertainty, and uncertainty analysis of satellite rainfall products

The Cifelli – Chandrasekar chapter discusses dual polarimetic radar rainfall estimation and is especially timely, given the impending upgrade of the National Weather Service (NWS) radar network (NEXRAD) to dual polarimetric capability. Also, HMT has also employed polarimetric X-band, gap-filling radars in complex terrain, and current planning for HMT-Southeast considers precipitation studies with polarimetric radars. Each chapter provides information on fundamental principles, a detailed overview of current knowledge and description of existing methods, and emerging techniques and future research directions.