Errors and Correction of Precipitation Measurements in China

In order to discover the range of various errors in Chinese precipitation measurements and seek a correction method, 30 precipitation evaluation stations were set up countrywide before 1993. All the stations are reference stations in China. To seek a correction method for wind-induced error, a precipitation correction instrument called the ＂horizontal precipitation gauge＂ was devised beforehand. Field intercomparison observations regarding 29,000 precipitation events have been conducted using one pit gauge, two elevated operational gauges and one horizontal gauge at the above 30 stations. The range of precipitation measurement errors in China is obtained by analysis of intercomparison measurement results. The distribution of random errors and systematic errors in precipitation measurements are studied in this paper. A correction method, especially for wind-induced errors, is developed. The results prove that a correlation of power function exists between the precipitation amount caught by the horizontal gauge and the absolute difference of observations implemented by the operational gauge and pit gauge. The correlation coefficient is 0.99. For operational observations, precipitation correction can be carried out only by parallel observation with a horizontal precipitation gauge. The precipitation accuracy after correction approaches that of the pit gauge. The correction method developed is simple and feasible.

Evaluation of the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System Based on Snow Accumulation Observations over the Ross Ice Shelf

Recent snow height measurements(2008–15) from nine automatic weather stations(AWSs) on the Ross Ice Shelf are used to examine the synoptic and seasonal variability in snow accumulation,and also to evaluate the performance of the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System(AMPS) for precipitation. The number of snow accumulation events varies from one station to another between 2008 and 2015,thus demonstrating geographic dependence. The interannual variability in snow accumulation is too high to determine its seasonality based on the current AWS observations with limited time coverage.Comparison between the AMPS and AWS snow height measurements show that approximately 28% of the AWS events are reproduced by AMPS. Furthermore,there are significant correlations between AMPS and AWS coincident event sizes at five stations(p < 0.05). This finding suggests that AMPS has a certain ability to represent actual precipitation events.

Cross-sectional rainfall observation on the central-western Tibetan Plateau in the warm season:System design and preliminary results

The central and western Tibetan Plateau(CWTP)is characterized by harsh environment and strong interactions among the spheres of earth as well as significant changes in climate and water cycles over the past four decades.The lack of precipitation observations is a bottleneck for the study of land surface processes in this region.Over the past six years,we have designed and established two observation transects across the south-north and the west-east in this region to obtain hourly rainfall data during the warm season(May-September).The south-north transect extends from Yadong Valley on the southern slope of the Himalayas to Shuanghu County in the hinterland of the plateau,with a total of 31stations;the west-east transect extends from Shiquanhe in the west to Naqu in the central TP,with a total of 22 stations.The observation dataset has been applied to clarify the spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation in the CWTP,to evaluate the quality of typical gridded precipitation products,to support the development of regional climate models,and to reveal the processes of summertime lake-air interactions.The observation dataset has been released in the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center.