TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of urban rainfall from hourly to seasonal scales using high-resolution radar observations in the Netherlands
AU - Manola, Iris
AU - Steeneveld, Gert Jan
AU - Uijlenhoet, Remko
AU - Holtslag, Albert A.M.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In this article an analysis of urban rainfall from hourly to seasonal scales is conducted for the Netherlands, with a focus on its capital, Amsterdam. In addition, the potential of synoptic weather types and local wind directions to categorize extreme rainfall in Amsterdam is assessed. An analysis of gauge-adjusted daily radar rainfall retrievals with 1 km spatial resolution for 10 years shows that rainfall is enhanced over Dutch cities compared to their rural surroundings, with a maximum of a 14.2% increase over the largest cities in winter. The annual cumulative rainfall in Amsterdam appears to be significantly higher compared to its surroundings. This is due both to the higher frequency of occurrence of urban rainfall and to the higher hourly mean intensities. Extreme hourly rainfall rates appear to be affected by urban areas only in summer. Diurnal and weekly rainfall cycles do not reveal any significant urban influence. A wind direction analysis reveals that extreme rainfall events can primarily be attributed to westerly and next to southerly air masses. An analysis of the Jenkinson and Collinson (JC) and the German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) weather types with rainfall and extreme rainfall events reveals that the JC weather types are more indicative of situations associated with rainfall extremes, whereas the DWD weather types are more indicative of situations resulting in higher accumulated rainfall amounts.
AB - In this article an analysis of urban rainfall from hourly to seasonal scales is conducted for the Netherlands, with a focus on its capital, Amsterdam. In addition, the potential of synoptic weather types and local wind directions to categorize extreme rainfall in Amsterdam is assessed. An analysis of gauge-adjusted daily radar rainfall retrievals with 1 km spatial resolution for 10 years shows that rainfall is enhanced over Dutch cities compared to their rural surroundings, with a maximum of a 14.2% increase over the largest cities in winter. The annual cumulative rainfall in Amsterdam appears to be significantly higher compared to its surroundings. This is due both to the higher frequency of occurrence of urban rainfall and to the higher hourly mean intensities. Extreme hourly rainfall rates appear to be affected by urban areas only in summer. Diurnal and weekly rainfall cycles do not reveal any significant urban influence. A wind direction analysis reveals that extreme rainfall events can primarily be attributed to westerly and next to southerly air masses. An analysis of the Jenkinson and Collinson (JC) and the German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) weather types with rainfall and extreme rainfall events reveals that the JC weather types are more indicative of situations associated with rainfall extremes, whereas the DWD weather types are more indicative of situations resulting in higher accumulated rainfall amounts.
KW - extreme rainfall
KW - rain radar observations
KW - synoptic weather types
KW - urban rainfall
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070786348&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/joc.6241
DO - 10.1002/joc.6241
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85070786348
SN - 0899-8418
VL - 40
SP - 822
EP - 840
JO - International Journal of Climatology
JF - International Journal of Climatology
IS - 2
ER -