An Approach for the Estimation of Hydrometeorological Variables Towards the Determination of Z-R Coefficients

• Published in: Environmental processes 2015-12, Vol.2 (4), p.751-759
• Main Authors: Baltas, E. A, Panagos, D. S., Mimikou, M. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Drop size; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental Management; Environmental Science and Engineering; Flash floods; Flooding; Hydrometeorology; Mathematical analysis; Original Article; Rain; Rainfall; Rainfall intensity; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Weather stations
• ISSN: 2198-7491; 2198-7505
• DOI: 10.1007/s40710-015-0119-x

An attempt is made to estimate the basic hydrometeorological variables, namely the rainfall concentration for each bin per m 3 , the radar reflectivity factor Z and the rainfall intensity R, and consequently to determine coefficient “a” and exponent “b” of the power law relationship Z = aR b . Data used were recorded in a period of almost 10 years, with a Joss-Walvogel RD-69 disdrometer (JWD), located in the meteorological station of the campus of National Technical University of Athens. A number of rainfall events were selected based on the following criteria: the total rainfall depth of each event was greater than 24.0 mm and the average rainfall intensity exceeded 5.0 mm/h, in order to only study events with increased flash flooding probability. Initially, Drop Size Distributions (DSDs) were calculated for these rainfall events and processed for the derivation of Z-R relationships. Such Z-R relationships were finally derived for the overall spectra of R > 5.0 mm/h and for each event separately and were compared with other Z-R relationships found in the literature.