Snow nowcasting using a real-time correlation of radar reflectivity with snow gauge accumulation

This paper describes and evaluates an algorithm for nowcasting snow water equivalent (SWE) at a point on the surface based on a real-time correlation of equivalent radar reflectivity (Ze) with snow gauge rate (S). It is shown from both theory and previous results that Ze-S relationships vary significantly during a storm and from storm to storm, requiring a real-time correlation of Ze and S. A key element of the algorithm is taking into account snow drift and distance of the radar volume from the snow gauge. The algorithm was applied to a number of New York City snowstorms and was shown to have skill in nowcasting SWE out to at least 1 h when compared with persistence. The algorithm is currently being used in a real-time winter weather nowcasting system, called Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making (WSDDM), to improve decision making regarding the deicing of aircraft and runway clearing. The algorithm can also be used to provide a real-time Z-S relationship for Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) if a well-shielded snow gauge is available to measure real-time SWE rate and appropriate range corrections are made.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2003 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 USC, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the Society's permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statements, requires written permission or license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policies, available from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or amspubs@ametsoc.org. Permission to place a copy of this work on this server has been provided by the AMS. The AMS does not guarantee that the copy provided here is an accurate copy of the published work.
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Rasmussen, Roy
Dixon, Michael
Vasiloff, Steve
Hage, Frank
Knight, Shelly
Vivekanandan, Jothiram
Xu, Mei
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2003-01-06T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:37:56.119848
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:8907
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Rasmussen, Roy, Dixon, Michael, Vasiloff, Steve, Hage, Frank, Knight, Shelly, Vivekanandan, Jothiram, Xu, Mei. (2003). Snow nowcasting using a real-time correlation of radar reflectivity with snow gauge accumulation. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7c829zb. Accessed 15 June 2025.

Harvest Source