Rainfall Fields Monitoring Based on Satellite Microwave Down-Links and Traditional Techniques in the City of Genoa

Abstract

This article compares different rainfall observing techniques available in the City of Genoa (Italy): the Ligurian regional tipping-bucket rain gauge (TBRG) network and the Monte Settepani long-range weather radar (WR) operated by the Ligurian Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAL) and Smart Rainfall System (SRS), a network of microwave sensors for satellite down-links developed by the University of Genoa and Artys Srl. SRS and WR are the two indirect monitoring systems considered in this analysis. The respective performance of the rainfall measurements was assessed by comparison with the reference observations made in situ by seven TBRG stations selected within the boundary of the City of Genoa. The analysis was performed by considering the main precipitation events that occurred between January 2017 and December 2018. The results show an agreement between the precision of the 10-min rainfall intensity (RI) measurements, quantified by the root mean square errors (RMSEs), made by the WR and the SRS system for the seven sites. Similar performance has been also observed when comparing the peak of RI and the total rain accumulation with the reference TBRG values for the selected precipitation events. An assessment of the WR and SRS accuracy in providing the 2-D RI fields was also performed by computing the map of the RMSE differences over the City of Genoa territory. It is shown that the SRS RI maps are generally associated with a lower level of RMSE with respect to the WR in the areas that are characterized by a higher density of sensors.