Abstract

Using GIS to Translate Weather Radar into Precipitation Amounts
Track: Atmosphere, Climate, and Weather
Authors: Abgail Gleason

Summer monsoons occur often within Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). Though monsoons provide most of the park's rainfall and much needed water for vegetation and wildlife, they can also cause damage to the park's infrastructure. Due to the remote nature of JTNP, very few direct measurements of precipitation exist. This study incorporates NEXRAD WSR-88D data into a GIS environment to process summer monsoon events as an alternative for precipitation measurement. A toolset was developed within ArcGIS that automatically reformats, ingests, and processes NEXRAD datasets to produce precipitation data of monsoon events, with rainfall locations and amounts. These precipitation data can be fully integrated with vegetation information, facilities and infrastructure locations, and hydrology models for vegetation habitat modeling and facility management.