Multifractal analysis of daily spatial rainfall distributions

The multifractal behavior of daily spatial rainfall distributions observed by a dense gage network in southern Sweden was analyzed by studying the variation of average statistical moments with scale. The data were analyzed both separated into groups depending on the rainfall generating mechanism (warm fronts, cold fronts, and convection, respectively) and pooled into one group representing the total rainfall process in the area. The results indicated that the daily spatial rainfall distributions were well characterized by a multifractal behavior both separated into mechanism groups and pooled into one group. The multifractal properties, however, displayed distinct differences which were related to physical differences of the rainfall generating mechanisms. The multifractal properties of the total rainfall process agreed well with the properties of the cold front group. Investigations of interpolated grids showed that these well preserve the multifractal behavior of the original data, but modify the multifractal properties.

[1]  B. Mandelbrot,et al.  Fractal properties of rain, and a fractal model , 1985 .

[2]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Multifractal Analysis Techniques and the Rain and Cloud Fields from 10−3 to 106m , 1991 .

[3]  François G. Schmitt,et al.  Variabilité temporelle multifractale des observations pluviométriques à Nîmes , 1993 .

[4]  David G. Tarboton,et al.  Understanding complexity in the structure of rainfall , 1993 .

[5]  Edward C. Waymire,et al.  A statistical analysis of mesoscale rainfall as a random cascade , 1993 .

[6]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Extreme Variability of Climatological Data: Scaling and Intermittency , 1991 .

[7]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Universal Multifractals: Theory and Observations for Rain and Clouds , 1993 .

[8]  J. Olsson.  Validity and applicability of a scale-independent, multifractal relationship for rainfall , 1996 .

[9]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Non-Linear Variability in Geophysics , 1991 .

[10]  Thomas M. Over,et al.  Statistical Analysis of Mesoscale Rainfall: Dependence of a Random Cascade Generator on Large-Scale Forcing , 1994 .

[11]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Multifractals, universality classes and satellite and radar measurements of cloud and rain fields , 1990 .

[12]  Ronny Berndtsson,et al.  An analysis of the rainfall time structure by box counting—some practical implications , 1992 .

[13]  D. Schertzer,et al.  Physical modeling and analysis of rain and clouds by anisotropic scaling multiplicative processes , 1987 .

[14]  Shaun Lovejoy,et al.  Multifractals and extreme rainfall events , 1993 .

[15]  V. Gupta,et al.  Multiscaling properties of spatial rain-fall and river flow distributions , 1990 .

[16]  J. Olsson,et al.  Limits and characteristics of the multifractal behaviour of a high-resolution rainfall time series , 1995 .

[17]  H. G. E. Hentschel,et al.  The infinite number of generalized dimensions of fractals and strange attractors , 1983 .

[18]  D. Schertzer,et al.  Multifractal Analysis and Simulation of the Global Meteorological Network , 1994 .

[19]  S. Lovejoy.  Area-Perimeter Relation for Rain and Cloud Areas , 1982, Science.

[20]  Ronny Berndtsson,et al.  Fractal Analysis of High-Resolution Rainfall Time Series , 1993 .