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Precipitation radar as a source of hydrometeorological data

University of British Columbia

The application of radar-derived precipitation measurements to engineering hydrology is investigated in this thesis. The nature of precipitation phenomena and current measurement techniques are introduced, followed by a detailed explanation of radar as a quantitative measurement tool. Archive data for the operational SCEPTRE radar in Abbotsford for five storm events was obtained from the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service. Errors inherent in this data and those introduced during processing are investigated, and a comparison with point raingauge values is given. An interactive colour image display system is presented and precipitation patterns seen in the displayed image sequences are discussed. Applications of radar-deirived rainfall data to engineering runoff models are described, and the benefits and limitations of this data source are studied. An urban runoff case study using the Storm Water Management Model to simulate a catchment in Vancouver is given, and conclusions regarding the spatial and temporal resolution requirements of rainfall data sources are drawn from the results. The thesis concludes with recommendations for improvements to the SCEPTRE radar and to the archive system to make radar data more useful to engineering hydrologists.

Text

2010-04-15

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/23701

Civil Engineering

University of British Columbia

Graduate