Statistical evaluation of a radar rainfall system for sewer system management

Abstract Urban areas are faced with mounting demands for managing waste and stormwater for a cleaner environment. Rainfall information is a critical component in efficient management of urban drainage systems. A major water quality impact affecting receiving waterbodies is the discharge of untreated waste and stormwater during precipitation, termed wet weather flow. Elimination or reduction of wet weather flow in metropolitan sewer districts is a major goal of environmental protection agencies and often requires considerable capital improvements. Design of these improvements requires accurate rainfall data in conjunction with monitored wastewater flow data. Characterizing the hydrologic/hydraulic performance of the sewer using distant rain gauges can cause oversizing and wasted expenditures. Advanced technology has improved our ability to measure accurately rainfall over large areas. Weather radar, when combined with rain gauge measurements, provides detailed information concerning rainfall intensities over specific watersheds. Knowing how much rain fell over contributing areas during specific periods aids in characterizing inflow and infiltration to sanitary and combined sewers, calibration of sewer system models, and in operation of predictive real-time control measures. Described herein is the design of a system for managing rainfall information for sewer system management, along with statistical analysis of 60 events from a large metropolitan sewer district. Analysis of the lower quartile rainfall events indicates that the expected average difference is 25.61%. Upper quartile rainfall events have an expected average difference of 17.25%. Rain gauge and radar accumulations are compared and evaluated in relation to specific needs of an urban application. Overall, the events analyzed agree to within ± 8% based on the median average difference between gauge and radar.