Precipitation Extrapolation Nowcasting in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Under Different Weather Backgrounds

Abstract

Rapid-refresh Multi-Scale Analysis and Prediction System-Integration (RMAPS_IN) is an important tool for Beijing, Hebei and other meteorological departments to make rapid-updated and refined precipitation nowcasting. The precipitation analysis products of the system are based on automatic station observation and radar quantitative precipitation estimation data, while 0-2 h forecast products are obtained by extrapolation based on the analysis products. To study the applicability of different extrapolation methods in RMAPS_IN, the precipitation events of different weather systems from 2019 to 2020 are analyzed, using cross correlation method and optical flow method to conduct a 0-2 h extrapolation nowcasting test based on the RMAPS_IN precipitation analysis products. The cross correlation method uses classic optimal correlation coefficient calculation scheme, while the optical flow method employs the Farneback dense optical flow calculation scheme in the OpenCV function library. According to the characteristics of the regional weather systems, the precipitation events are divided into five types: Low trough cold front precipitation, low vortex precipitation, typhoon precipitation, cyclone precipitation, and warm shear line precipitation. The sample size of each precipitation type is 2108, 1448, 1058, 260, and 140, respectively. The batch test results show that the extrapolated vectors by the cross correlation method and optical flow method have a certain difference in magnitude and direction. The direct difference has a clear correspondence with the position of the weather system that affects precipitation, and is more obviously affected by the geographical location. For typhoon precipitation, the difference in direction is distributed in an arc band, while for other 4 types of precipitation, the difference is large in the northwest and small in the southeast. In terms of forecasting effect, the cross correlation method is generally better than the optical flow method, especially when the forecast time exceeds 30 minutes, and the longer the lead time is, the more obvious the advantage is. But when the forecast time is 10 min, the optical flow method is better in the false alarm rate of low vortex precipitation, typhoon precipitation and warm shear line precipitation. In addition, the nowcasting method based on extrapolation has the best prediction effects on typhoon precipitation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, followed by warm shear line precipitation, low vortex precipitation, low trough cold front precipitation, and cyclone precipitation. It should be noted that in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, cyclone precipitation and warm shear line precipitation rarely occurred in recent years, and the sample size of these two types of precipitation is significantly smaller than that of other types, so the relevant results are less representative.

Keywords

• nowcasting
• cross correlation
• optical flow