Radar-rainfall uncertainties:Where are we after thirty years of effort

The operational capability of radar to provide quantitative estimates of rainfall with potential applications to hydrology is assessed. Jim Wilson and Ed Brandes presented a seminal paper, entitled 'Radar measurement of rainfall-A summary' to address these issues. The authors also addressed the potential impact of the errors in rain gauge measurements of rainfall and sampling uncertainties. They reported that the impact decreased with increasing area size, increasing time period, increasing gage density, and increasing rainfall amount. Quantitative models were developed on the basis of the latest research to show the way spatial sampling errors decreased with increasing temporal and decreasing spatial scales, rain gauge network density, and rainfall amount. The two researchers predicted the operational utility of radar-rainfall estimation and promoted its use in flash flood forecasting.