Tag: Flooding

There are some unique challenges with the operational use of radar in Scotland:

• The radar coverage is inconsistent across the country, particularly in Dumfries and Galloway and the Highlands, including Inverness
• The mountainous nature of the landscape means that the radar might not be able to “see” in all directions as the beam is blocked by hills
• The post processing algorithms do not fully account for orographic enhancement of rainfall over high ground
• Radar doesn’t perform very well when it is snowing due to the different reflective properties of snow compared to rain

However, radar remains a vital tool in flood forecasting as Linda Speight reports on floodforecastingservice.net

Weather Radar and Hydrology 2011 provided a forum for the exchange of experiences and ideas on the use of weather radar in hydrology with a particular emphasis on user applications for flood forecasting and water management. The full set of papers from the symposium, held at the University of Exeter in April 2011, are available through the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. 

Continue reading “IAHS Red Book: Weather Radar and Hydrology”

Hydrological use of weather radar continues to grow across the water industry. Initiatives across many research and industry groups are aimed at maximising the value of the UK radar network and various networks of raingauges to provide the best possible spatial estimates of rainfall. This workshop provided a forum for industry leads and experts to share techniques and experiences in merging radar and raingauge data. A principle aim was to recognise any UK-wide strategic opportunities whilst recognising differing user requirements.

Continue reading “Merging radar and raingauge data: opportunities for a future UK-wide strategy”

Providing the best possible spatial representation of rainfall is vital to support hydrological applications, whether for urban drainage management or flood forecasting. This principle applies at various spatial and temporal scales for rainfall estimates in both gridded and catchment-average form.

Continue reading “Improving rainfall estimation for water industry use by merging radar and raingauge data: A UK-wide strategy”

The Inter-Agency Committee on the Hydrological Use of Weather Radar is the only national body in the United Kingdom bringing together operational agencies and research bodies with the common purpose of advancing the use of weather radar in hydrology, especially in support of flood management. It operates under the auspices of stakeholder organisations and with support from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). We promote and encourage research in this area.

Continue reading “Radar Hydrology in the UK”