River flow simulations with polarimetric weather radar

Polarimetric weather radars offer advantages over conventional radars such as removal of non-meteorological echoes, attenuation correction, hydrometeor identification and more accurate rainfall estimation in the rain region, all of which lead to an overall improvement in data quality and the subsequent improvement in rainfall estimation. However, how much of that improvement is translated into more accurate river flow simulations given the fact that hydrological models are also subject to uncertainties due to model parameters and model structure? This paper examines the use of radar rainfall estimations from an operational polarimetric C-band weather radar linked directly to a hydrological model for river flow simulations. Several rainfall events from the winter and summer seasons were considered for the analysis. Polarimetric rain-rate algorithms were developed for both seasons, based on several months of disdrometer data. The results are presented in terms of radar and raingauge comparisons (over a large raingauge network) as well as flow simulations.