Real-time estimation of rainfall fields using rain gage data under fractional coverage conditions

Two new attempts at optimal estimation of rainfall fields using hourly rain gage data under fractional coverage conditions are reported; (1) double optimal estimation using analogues of indicator and simple kriging to estimate probability of rainfall and rainfall amount given raining, respectively, and (2) single optimal estimation using an analogue of simple kriging to directly estimate rainfall amount. They are evaluated via cross validation using hourly rain gage data from the operational network under the Tulsa, Oklahoma, WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler version) umbrella. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.