Network design for the estimation of areal mean of rainfall events

This work recognizes rainfall as a multidimensional stochastic process. By using the knowledge of such processes and of multivariate estimation theory a procedure for designing an optimal network to obtain the areal mean precipitation of an event over a fixed area is developed. The methodology used in this problem allows consideration of the following aspects of network design: (1) spatial uncertainty and correlation of process, (2) errors in measurement techniques and their correlation, and (3) non-homogeneous sampling costs. Optimal networks are given in terms of the number and location of stations together with the resulting cost and mean square error of rainfall estimation.