Participation Assignment #1 -

When looking through the UWF library, I found an article relating the use of GIS to establish relationships between precipitation and terrain data. The article was written by Hong Haoyuan from the Jiangxi Meteorological Observatory in China. The objective of the study I chose is to use GIS and a regression equation to provide better support for flood disaster prevention and support.

The authors obtained DEM, slope, slope aspect, and water system data. Most of the data came from the Jiangxi Meteorological Bureau; precipitation data came from observational data from several meteorological stations from the days before, during, and after the rainstorm event.

The authors used a multiple linear regression model based on the least square method. They determined that the greatest impacts on the water system were due to rainfall, slope, altitude, and slope aspect (the direction the slope faces). Using the analysis tools of ArcGIS, they found the distribution characteristics of the criteria, and found that the factors most related to flood disasters in this region are the slope and slope aspect of the terrain. The province being discussed in the study has flat plains in the center and more mountainous regions in both the western and eastern sections. This region contains Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, and the precipitation amount showed a close correlation with proximity to the lake.

Also using the tools in ArcGIS, the authors mapped the cumulative rainfall distribution of the event, with a spatial resolution of 30 m x 30 m. Based on the spatial distribution of precipitation with the maximum rainfall near the areas of steeper slopes and near the large lake, they determine that the orographic lifting process was an important contributor to the rainstorm event. Orographic lifting is air forced upwards by terrain, causing it to cool and become saturated and produce rain. In addition to larger precipitation near the large lake, there were also precipitation maxima just off some of the steeper slopes, supporting the authors idea that orographic lifting was a major contributor for this rainstorm.

The authors used observational data from weather monitoring stations to determine which factors were the most important to the spatial distribution of rainfall and established a regression model to examine this. Using ArcGIS software, they analyzed the spatial distribution of rainfall using those criteria. Using their model, the modeled rainfall and actual rainfall differed by only 1.358%, so GIS showed that using their criteria produced an accurate representation of rainfall distribution in this case.

I chose this article because this is an interesting blend of GIS and meteorological concepts. I found it really interesting to see some of the meteorological concepts being mapped out using some of the GIS analysis techniques that we have recently learned. I feel that GIS isn’t used enough in meteorology, and I love finding interesting articles that blend the two together.

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/environmentalscience/docview/1553423204/F6880D76EFCE4AA3PQ/17?accountid=14787