Post-Deployment Data Analysis Kick Off Meeting
Today members of the EA and NCAS project teams met to discuss the analysis of the data streaming in from the radar. Over the next year, whilst we continue the operations of the radar, both teams will be working hard to use the data to help improve our understanding of precipitation over Cumbria and potential degree of improvement in our flood forecasting service from deploying a small radar in Cumbria.
Below is a picture of the team that met in Leeds today.
Collecting Data
The NCAS X-band mobile radar is now collecting data operationally in Cumbria. The images above show data collected by X-band radar at 1:33AM on 1st November 2018. In Figure (a) we are showing radar reflectivity which is one of the basic variables that a radar observes. Radar reflectivity is proportional to the amount of rainfall so higher values equate to areas that are experiencing more rain. In Figure (b) we show the rain rate observed from the reflectivity in Figure a. You can see that the areas of highest reflectivity in western Cumbria (near the radar marked with a black dot) were experiencing rain rates of over 10mm per hour. The circles are drawn with radii increasing in 25km steps. The furthest circle is 150km from the radar.
Final Placement of the Radar
The lasts steps of the radar deployment include lifting the platform and radar into place. This is always a nervous time for us but all went well and the radar was placed in its final position successfully. The picture and video were shot by University of Leeds PhD student Joshua Hampton.