The shape of rainfall cells is a crucial ingredient of stochastic point-process models that describe intense precipitation events. Here we study the shape of the individual rain cells measured during the TOGA/COARE and GATE radar experiments. We find that, on average, rainfall intensity decreases exponentially from the cell's center. An exponential profile provides a good estimate of the precipitation intensity in the bulk of the cell. By contrast, the standard assumption of a Gaussian shape leads to significant underestimation of the precipitation intensity in the central portion of the cell and of the associated hydrologic response.
The Shape of Convective Rain Cells
FERRARIS, LUCA;
2003-01-01
Abstract
The shape of rainfall cells is a crucial ingredient of stochastic point-process models that describe intense precipitation events. Here we study the shape of the individual rain cells measured during the TOGA/COARE and GATE radar experiments. We find that, on average, rainfall intensity decreases exponentially from the cell's center. An exponential profile provides a good estimate of the precipitation intensity in the bulk of the cell. By contrast, the standard assumption of a Gaussian shape leads to significant underestimation of the precipitation intensity in the central portion of the cell and of the associated hydrologic response.
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