Design of hail measurement networks* |
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| Authors: | Alexis B Long |
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| Institution: | National Hail Research Experiment , National Center for Atmospheric Research , Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Hail and rain data collected in the National Hail Research Experiment's 1976 dense precipitation network have proved useful in defining the requirements of hail measuring networks. It is shown, at least for the hailstorm of 22 June 1976, that the primary maxima and minima of the spatial distribution of hail mass are revealed by a hailpad spacing of about 4 km, and that increasing detail obtains with smaller spacings until with spacings of 0.4 to 0.8 km finer scale features with dimensions of 1–3 km become defined. Monte‐Carlo and conventional statistical analysis show that the confidence limits on the errer in estimating the true hail mass for a storm increase approximately linearly with the mean spacing of hailpads. For the hailfall of 22 June 1976, there is 90% confidence that the true hail mass is estimated within ± 10% for a hailpad spacing of 1.7 km. Estimates of hail kinetic energy and number of hailstones of this accuracy require that hailpads be approximately 10–20% closer or farther apart, respectively. There is no simple numerical relation between the densities of hailpad and wedge raingauge networks covering the same area such that, if satisfied, the networks would then provide estimates of hail mass and total precipitation of the same accuracy for any storm. There is considerable daily variation in the size of hailswaths and in the spatial distribution of hail mass within them, pointing to the need for a climatological study of these aspects of hailfall to assess properly the requirements that a hail network must meet in a given region. |
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| Keywords: | near-surface ocean currents satellite remote sensing ocean modelling Stokes drift Northwest Atlantic Newfoundland Shelf Labrador Shelf |
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