Application of a Bayesian classifier of anomalous propagation to single-polarization radar reflectivity data

Article


Peter, Justin R., Seed, Alan and Steinle, Peter J.. 2013. "Application of a Bayesian classifier of anomalous propagation to single-polarization radar reflectivity data ." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. 30 (9), pp. 1985-2005. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00082.1
Article Title

Application of a Bayesian classifier of anomalous propagation to single-polarization radar reflectivity data

ERA Journal ID1920
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsPeter, Justin R. (Author), Seed, Alan (Author) and Steinle, Peter J. (Author)
Journal TitleJournal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
Journal Citation30 (9), pp. 1985-2005
Number of Pages21
Year2013
Place of PublicationBoston, MA, USA
ISSN0739-0572
1520-0426
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00082.1
Web Address (URL)http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00082.1
Abstract

A naïve Bayes classifier (NBC) was developed to distinguish precipitation echoes from anomalous propagation (anaprop). The NBC is an application of Bayes's theorem, which makes its classification decision based on the class with the maximum a posteriori probability. Several feature fields were input to the Bayes classifier: texture of reflectivity (TDBZ), a measure of the reflectivity fluctuations (SPIN), and vertical profile of reflectivity (VPDBZ). Prior conditional probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the feature fields were constructed from training sets for several meteorological scenarios and for anaprop. A Box–Cox transform was applied to transform these PDFs to approximate Gaussian distributions, which enabled efficient numerical computation as they could be specified completely by their mean and standard deviation. Combinations of the feature fields were tested on the training datasets to evaluate the best combination for discriminating anaprop and precipitation, which was found to be TDBZ and VPDBZ. The NBC was applied to a case of convective rain embedded in anaprop and found to be effective at distinguishing the echoes. Furthermore, despite having been trained with data from a single radar, the NBC was successful at distinguishing precipitation and anaprop from two nearby radars with differing wavelength and beamwidth characteristics. The NBC was extended to implement a strength of classification index that provides a metric to quantify the confidence with which data have been classified as precipitation and, consequently, a method to censor data for assimilation or quantitative precipitation estimation.

Keywordsdata quality control; radars/radar observations; Bayesian methods
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020370199. Atmospheric sciences not elsewhere classified
370108. Meteorology
Public Notes

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Byline AffiliationsCollaboration for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Australia
Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Australia
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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