TY - JOUR
T1 - GIS-based NEXRAD Stage III precipitation database
T2 - Automated approaches for data processing and visualization
AU - Xie, Hongjie
AU - Zhou, Xiaobing
AU - Vivoni, Enrique R.
AU - Hendrickx, Jan M.H.
AU - Small, Eric E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NSF EPSCoR grant EPS-0132632 through Institute of Natural Resources Analysis and Management (INRAM) in New Mexico. We acknowledge and appreciate Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) at University of New Mexico for sharing GIS resources and weather data. We would thank Matt Richmond for his help in computer programming. We would also thank Janet Greenlee at the New Mexico State University and Dr. Brian Nelson at the University of Iowa for their constructive comments to improve this manuscript. We appreciate the effort of the reviewers whose helpful comments improved this paper.
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - This study develops a geographical information system (GIS) approach for automated processing of the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Stage III precipitation data. The automated processing system, implemented by using commercial GIS and a number of Perl scripts and C/C++ programs, allows for rapid data display, requires less storage capacity, and provides the analytical and data visualization tools inherent in GIS as compared to traditional methods. In this paper, we illustrate the development of automatic techniques to preprocess raw NEXRAD Stage III data, transform the data to a GIS format, select regions of interest, and retrieve statistical rainfall analysis over user-defined spatial and temporal scales. Computational expense is reduced significantly using the GIS-based automated techniques. For example, 1-year Stage III data processing (∼9000 files) for the West Gulf River Forecast Center takes about 3 days of computation time instead of months of manual work. To illustrate the radar precipitation database and its visualization capabilities, we present three application examples: (1) GIS-based data visualization and integration, and ArcIMS-based web visualization and publication system, (2) a spatial-temporal analysis of monsoon rainfall patterns over the Rio Grande River Basin, and (3) the potential of GIS-based radar data for distributed watershed models. We conclude by discussing the potential applications of automated techniques for radar rainfall processing and its integration with GIS-based hydrologic information systems.
AB - This study develops a geographical information system (GIS) approach for automated processing of the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Stage III precipitation data. The automated processing system, implemented by using commercial GIS and a number of Perl scripts and C/C++ programs, allows for rapid data display, requires less storage capacity, and provides the analytical and data visualization tools inherent in GIS as compared to traditional methods. In this paper, we illustrate the development of automatic techniques to preprocess raw NEXRAD Stage III data, transform the data to a GIS format, select regions of interest, and retrieve statistical rainfall analysis over user-defined spatial and temporal scales. Computational expense is reduced significantly using the GIS-based automated techniques. For example, 1-year Stage III data processing (∼9000 files) for the West Gulf River Forecast Center takes about 3 days of computation time instead of months of manual work. To illustrate the radar precipitation database and its visualization capabilities, we present three application examples: (1) GIS-based data visualization and integration, and ArcIMS-based web visualization and publication system, (2) a spatial-temporal analysis of monsoon rainfall patterns over the Rio Grande River Basin, and (3) the potential of GIS-based radar data for distributed watershed models. We conclude by discussing the potential applications of automated techniques for radar rainfall processing and its integration with GIS-based hydrologic information systems.
KW - Automated techniques
KW - GIS
KW - NEXRAD
KW - Precipitation retrieval
KW - Visualization
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cageo.2004.09.009
DO - 10.1016/j.cageo.2004.09.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:11144350119
SN - 0098-3004
VL - 31
SP - 65
EP - 76
JO - Computers and Geosciences
JF - Computers and Geosciences
IS - 1
ER -