Weather Radar Adjustment Using Runoff from Urban Surfaces

Weather radar data used for urban drainage applications are traditionally adjusted to point ground references, e.g., rain gauges. However, the available rain gauge density for the adjustment is often low, which may lead to significant representativeness errors. Yet, in many urban catchments, rainfall is often measured indirectly through runoff sensors. This paper presents a method for weather radar adjustment on the basis of runoff observations (Z-Q adjustment) as an alternative to the traditional Z-R adjustment on the basis of rain gauges. Data from a new monitoring station in Aalborg, Denmark, were used to evaluate the flow-based weather radar adjustment method against the traditional rain-gauge adjustment. The evaluation was performed by comparing radar-modeled runoff to observed runoff. The methodology was both tested on an events basis and multiple events combined. The results indicate that this Z-Q adjustment method performs similarly to Z-R adjustment on the basis of well-placed rain gauges. This opens up the possibility of using flow measurements as an alternative to or in combination with rain gauges.