TY - JOUR
T1 - The history of rainfall data time-resolution in a wide variety of geographical areas
AU - Morbidelli, Renato
AU - García-Marín, Amanda Penelope
AU - Mamun, Abdullah Al
AU - Atiqur, Rahman Mohammad
AU - Ayuso-Muñoz, José Luís
AU - Taouti, Mohamed Bachir
AU - Baranowski, Piotr
AU - Bellocchi, Gianni
AU - Sangüesa-Pool, Claudia
AU - Bennett, Brett
AU - Oyunmunkh, Byambaa
AU - Bonaccorso, Brunella
AU - Brocca, Luca
AU - Caloiero, Tommaso
AU - Caporali, Enrica
AU - Caracciolo, Domenico
AU - Casas-Castillo, M. Carmen
AU - G.Catalini, Carlos
AU - Chettih, Mohamed
AU - Kamal Chowdhury, A. F.M.
AU - Chowdhury, Rezaul
AU - Corradini, Corrado
AU - Custò, Jeffrey
AU - Dari, Jacopo
AU - Diodato, Nazzareno
AU - Doesken, Nolan
AU - Dumitrescu, Alexandru
AU - Estévez, Javier
AU - Flammini, Alessia
AU - Fowler, Hayley J.
AU - Freni, Gabriele
AU - Fusto, Francesco
AU - García-Barrón, Leoncio
AU - Manea, Ancuta
AU - Goenster-Jordan, Sven
AU - Hinson, Stuart
AU - Kanecka-Geszke, Ewa
AU - Kar, Kanak Kanti
AU - Kasperska-Wołowicz, Wiesława
AU - Krabbi, Miina
AU - Krzyszczak, Jaromir
AU - Llabrés-Brustenga, Alba
AU - Ledesma, José L.J.
AU - Liu, Tie
AU - Lompi, Marco
AU - Marsico, Loredana
AU - Mascaro, Giuseppe
AU - Moramarco, Tommaso
AU - Newman, Noah
AU - Orzan, Alina
AU - Pampaloni, Matteo
AU - Pizarro-Tapia, Roberto
AU - Puentes Torres, Antonio
AU - Rashid, Md Mamunur
AU - Rodríguez-Solà, Raúl
AU - Manzor, Marcelo Sepulveda
AU - Siwek, Krzysztof
AU - Sousa, Arturo
AU - Timbadiya, P. V.
AU - Filippos, Tymvios
AU - Vilcea, Marina Georgiana
AU - Viterbo, Francesca
AU - Yoo, Chulsang
AU - Zeri, Marcelo
AU - Zittis, Georgios
AU - Saltalippi, Carla
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Collected rainfall records by gauges lead to key forcings in most hydrological studies. Depending on sensor type and recording systems, such data are characterized by different time-resolutions (or temporal aggregations), ta. We present an historical analysis of the time-evolution of ta based on a large database of rain gauge networks operative in many study areas. Globally, ta data were collected for 25,423 rain gauge stations across 32 geographic areas, with larger contributions from Australia, USA, Italy and Spain. For very old networks early recordings were manual with coarse time-resolution, typically daily or sometimes monthly. With a few exceptions, mechanical recordings on paper rolls began in the first half of the 20th century, typically with ta of 1 h or 30 min. Digital registrations started only during the last three decades of the 20th century. This short period limits investigations that require long time-series of sub-daily rainfall data, e.g, analyses of the effects of climate change on short-duration (sub-hourly) heavy rainfall. In addition, in the areas with rainfall data characterized for many years by coarse time-resolutions, annual maximum rainfall depths of short duration can be potentially underestimated and their use would produce errors in the results of successive applications. Currently, only 50% of the stations provide useful data at any time-resolution, that practically means ta = 1 min. However, a significant reduction of these issues can be obtained through the information content of the present database. Finally, we suggest an integration of the database by including additional rain gauge networks to enhance its usefulness particularly in a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on extreme rainfalls of short duration available in different locations.
AB - Collected rainfall records by gauges lead to key forcings in most hydrological studies. Depending on sensor type and recording systems, such data are characterized by different time-resolutions (or temporal aggregations), ta. We present an historical analysis of the time-evolution of ta based on a large database of rain gauge networks operative in many study areas. Globally, ta data were collected for 25,423 rain gauge stations across 32 geographic areas, with larger contributions from Australia, USA, Italy and Spain. For very old networks early recordings were manual with coarse time-resolution, typically daily or sometimes monthly. With a few exceptions, mechanical recordings on paper rolls began in the first half of the 20th century, typically with ta of 1 h or 30 min. Digital registrations started only during the last three decades of the 20th century. This short period limits investigations that require long time-series of sub-daily rainfall data, e.g, analyses of the effects of climate change on short-duration (sub-hourly) heavy rainfall. In addition, in the areas with rainfall data characterized for many years by coarse time-resolutions, annual maximum rainfall depths of short duration can be potentially underestimated and their use would produce errors in the results of successive applications. Currently, only 50% of the stations provide useful data at any time-resolution, that practically means ta = 1 min. However, a significant reduction of these issues can be obtained through the information content of the present database. Finally, we suggest an integration of the database by including additional rain gauge networks to enhance its usefulness particularly in a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on extreme rainfalls of short duration available in different locations.
KW - Hydrology history
KW - Rainfall data measurements
KW - Rainfall time resolution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087518152&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125258
DO - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125258
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087518152
SN - 0022-1694
VL - 590
JO - Journal of Hydrology
JF - Journal of Hydrology
M1 - 125258
ER -