Coverage of China New Generation Weather Radar Network

Chao Min,Asi Zhang,Yong Huang,Haonan Chen,Chaoying Huang,Sheng Chen,Jonathan J Gourley

doi:10.1155/2019/5789358

Abstract

The China Meteorological Administration has deployed the China New Generation Weather Radar (CINRAD) network for severe weather detection and to improve initial conditions for numerical weather prediction models. The CINRAD network consists of 217 radars comprising 123 S-band and 94 C-band radars over mainland China. In this paper, a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) and beam propagation simulations are used to compute radar beam blockage and evaluate the effective radar coverage over China. Results show that the radar coverage at a height of 1 km above ground level (AGL) is restricted in complex terrain regions. The effective coverage maps at heights of 2 km and 3 km AGL indicate that the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and North China Plain have more overlapping radar coverage than other regions in China. Over eastern China, almost all areas can be sampled by more than 2 radars within 5 km above mean sea level (MSL), but the radars operating in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau still suffer from serious beam blockage caused by intervening terrain. Overall, the radars installed in western China suffer from much more severe beam blockage than those deployed in eastern China. Maps generated in this study will inform users of the CINRAD data of their limitations for use in precipitation estimation, as inputs to other weather and hydrological models, and for satellite validation studies.

Highlights

As the climate changes, the temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation characteristics are experiencing changes
Heights of 1 km, 2 km, and 3 km above ground level (AGL) and 3 km and 5 km mean sea level (MSL) are set as constraints
The radar coverage map (Figure 7(a)) reveals overlapping coverage in the east, sampled by more than 2 radars in the North China Plain, the Pearl River Delta area, and the Yangtze River Delta. e coverage map of the China New Generation Weather Radar (CINRAD) network at a height of 5 km above MSL still shows limitations in the west, while eastern China and central China are almost completely covered with more than 2 radars overlapping in almost all regions (Figure 7(b)). ere are more than 4 radars overlapping in the North China Plain, southern China, eastern Sichuan province, and the Yangtze River Delta

Summary

Introduction

The temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation characteristics are experiencing changes. Understanding realistic spatial coverage maps associated with an operational radar network is vital for using the data in applications [4, 5]. Klazura and Imy simulated a coverage map at 10,000 ft (about 3.0 km) above the radar site level for radar sites in the contiguous United States (CONUS), showing vast areal coverage extents even in the western United States [6]. The altitude of western WSR-88D sites varies greatly (the elevation of radar sites ranges from near sea level to more than 10,000 ft). Us, Klazura and Imy optimistically overestimated the radar coverage over western mountains, and it is difficult to interpret meaningful information from their work of a radar coverage map [10, 11]. Westrick et al evaluated the limitation of the WSR-88D radar network over the mountainous West of the US and defined that the radar

Methods

Results

Conclusion