AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Radar signatures of the urban effect on precipitation distribution: A case study for Atlanta, Georgia

Urban areas can affect precipitation amount and distribution by enhancing precipitation downwind, altering precipitation rates, and disturbing patterns of convective development, clouds, and lightning. Nevertheless, quantifying disturbances and mapping altered patterns for every urban location can be technically difficult. To demonstrate a potentially easier method of monitoring precipitation in urban areas and to better quantify the urban influence on precipitation, Mote et al. (2007) examined summer precipitation distribution in and around metropolitan Atlanta for the years between 2002 and 2006 using a ground-based radar station in Peachtree City, Georgia. They found that areas east of Atlanta had 30% more rainfall during summer than areas west of the city. Further, both precipitation amount and frequency were enhanced up to 80 km east of Atlanta's urban core; hourly analysis of radar data showed that precipitation enhancements on the periphery of the urban core were most evident between 1900 and midnight local time. The authors expect that similar studies using ground-based radar for other urban centers will help better quantify the impact of urbanization on local precipitation.

View abstract

View full article (Subscription required)