The Accuracy of the Area-Threshold Method: A Model-based Simulation Study

Abstract

A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to investigate the performance of the area-threshold method of estimating mean areas rainfall. The study uses a stochastic space-time model of rainfall as the true rainfall-field generator. Simple schemes of simulating radar observations of the simulated rainfall fields are employed. The schemes address both random and systematic components of the radar rainfall-estimation process. The results of the area-threshold method are compared to the results based on conventional averaging of radar-estimated point rainfall observations. The results demonstrate that when the exponent parameter in the Z–R relationship has small uncertainty (about ±10%), the conventional method works better than the area-threshold method. When the errors are higher (±20%), the area-threshold method with optimum threshold in the 5–10 mm h−1 range performs best. For even higher errors in the Z–R relationship, the area-threshold method with a low threshold provides the best performance.