Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Estimation Of Depth-Area Relationships Using Radar-Rainfall Data, S. Rocky Durrans, Lesley T. Julian, Michael Yekta

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Depth-area relationships, such as those published by the National Weather Service in TP 40 and the NOAA Atlas 2, enable conversion of point rainfall depths to areal average depths for the same storm duration and recurrence interval. This problem of conversion is most germane to hydrologic analyses for moderate to large drainage basins, where point rainfall depths are not representative of the spatial distribution of a storm event. Historically, depth-area relationships have been developed on the basis of data from dense networks of recording gauges. However, with the ongoing accumulation of radar-rainfall records, radar-rainfall data represent an alternative to gauging …