Package: wrainfo
WRaINfo - An Open Source Library for Weather Radar Informationis a software for real-time weather radar data processing. It is specifically designed for X-band weather radars of FURUNO.For detailed information, refer to thedocumentation.
See also the latestcoveragereport and thepytestHTML report.Contact: Alice Künzel (alicek@gfz-potsdam.de)Information on how tocite the WRaINfo Python packagecan be found in theCITATIONfile.Pleasecite also the Wradlib Python packageas follows:An Open Source Library for Weather Radar Data Processing
Heistermann, M., Jacobi, S., and Pfaff, T.: Technical Note: An open source library for processing weather
radar data (wradlib), Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 863-871, doi:10.5194/hess-17-863-2013, 2013Table of ContentsWRaINfo - An Open Source Library for Weather Radar InformationFeatures overviewRemove ground clutterAttenuation correctionPrecipitation EstimationGeoreferencing and griddingInstallationHistory / ChangelogLicenseContributionData availabilityCreditsFeatures overviewThe FURUNO raw data can already provide useful visual information about the
spatial distribution of precipitation events. But in order to use the FURUNO
data for quantitatvie studies, the raw data has to be processed in order to account
for typical error sources such as ground clutter, uncertainities in polarimetric
variables and in the z-R relationship as well as attenuation of the radar signal.
Therefore this python package has been developed for processing FURUNO weather radar
data.Remove ground clutterTo remove ground clutter from raw data exists a function from wradlib based on all
polarimetric variables and on a static clutter map, which is generated over a long time period.
Pixel which are identified as clutter were exclude from further processing by set the pixels to NaN.
For processing a clutter map, the package includes a function to read only the values from raw data sequentially to not overload the memory.
Here is an example before and after removing ground clutter using WRaINfo.Attenuation correctionRainfall-induced attenuation is a major source of underestimation for radar-based precipitation estimation at X-band.
After phase processing, the attenuation correction is used with the approach ofTestud et al. (2001)is used.
Here is an example before and after attenuation correction using WRaINfo.Precipitation EstimationThere are several methods for deriving the amount of precipitation from reflectivity. In general, the z - R conversion is used.
The precipitation amount is determined with an integration interval of seconds based on the scan interval.Georeferencing and griddingAfter clutter and attenuation correction and precipitation estimation, the polar data are georeferenced using the specified EPSG code
and saved as a NetCDF file. Here is an example of a georeferenced dataset.InstallationInstallwrainfoHistory / ChangelogYou can find the protocol of recent changes in the WRaINfo packagehere.LicenseThe software is available under theApache 2.0.ContributionContributionsare always welcome.Data availabilityPreprocessed FURUNO weather radar data (level 2a) for the Neubrandenburg site are made available in theTERENO Data DiscoveryPortalunder theCC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Please contact us (fernlab@gfz-potsdam.de), if you wish to use the data under another license (e.g. commercially).CreditsWRaINfo has been developed byFERN.Lab, the Helmholtz Innovation Lab “Remote sensing for sustainable use of resources”, located at theHelmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. FERN.Lab is funded by theInitiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association.Development Team:Alice Künzel, researcherHelmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Section 1.4 - Remote Sensing and GeoinformaticsKai Mühlbauer, researcherUniversity of Bonn, Institute of Geosciences - Meteorology SectionJulia Neelmeijer, supervisorHelmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Section 1.4 - Remote Sensing and GeoinformaticsDaniel Spengler, supervisorHelmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Section 1.4 - Remote Sensing and GeoinformaticsThis package was created withCookiecutterand thefernlab/cookiecutter-pypackageproject template.
The test data represent raw data of the weather radar FURUNO and files which are created with the WRaINfo package.