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The Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) is used operationally for the retrieval of surface precipitation and hydrometeor profiles from the passive microwave (PMW) observations of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Recent updates have led to GPROF V7, which has entered operational use in May 2022. In parallel, development is underway to improve the retrieval by transitioning to a neural-network-based algorithm called GPROF-NN. This study validates retrievals of liquid precipitation over snow-free and non-mountainous surfaces from GPROF V7 and multiple configurations of GPROF-NN against ground-based radar measurements over the conterminous United States (CONUS) and the tropical Pacific. GPROF retrievals from the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) are validated over several years, and their ability to reproduce regional precipitation characteristics and effective resolution is assessed. Moreover, the retrieval accuracy for several other sensors of the constellation is evaluated. The validation of GPROF V7 indicates that the retrieval produces reliable estimates of liquid precipitation over the CONUS. During all four assessed years, annual mean precipitation is within 8 % of gauge-corrected radar measurements. Although biases of up to 25 % are observed over sub-regions of the CONUS and the tropical Pacific, the retrieval reliably reproduces each region's diurnal and seasonal precipitation characteristics. The effective resolution of GPROF V7 is found to be 51 km over the CONUS and 18 km over the tropical Pacific. GPROF V7 also produces robust precipitation estimates for the other sensors of the GPM constellation. The evaluation further shows that the GPROF-NN retrievals have the potential to significantly improve the GPM PMW precipitation retrievals. GPROF-NN 1D, the most basic neural network implementation of GPROF, improves the mean-squared error, mean absolute error, correlation and symmetric mean absolute percentage error of instantaneous precipitation estimates by about 20 % for GPROF GMI while the effective resolution is improved to 31 km over land and 15 km over oceans. The two GPROF-NN retrievals that are based on convolutional neural networks can further improve the accuracy up to the level of the combined radar–radiometer retrievals from the GPM core observatory. However, these retrievals are found to overfit on the viewing geometry at the center of the swath, reducing their overall accuracy to that of GPROF-NN 1D. For the other sensors of the constellation, the GPROF-NN retrievals produce larger biases than GPROF V7 and only GPROF-NN 3D achieves consistent improvements compared to GPROF V7 in terms of the other assessed error metrics. This points to shortcomings in the hydrometeor profiles or radiative transfer simulations used to generate the training data for the other sensors of the GPM constellation as a critical limitation for improving GPM PMW retrievals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) is used operationally for the retrieval of surface precipitation and hydrometeor profiles from the passive microwave (PMW) observations of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Recent updates have led to GPROF V7, which has entered operational use in May 2022. In parallel, development is underway to improve the retrieval by transitioning to a neural-network-based algorithm called GPROF-NN. This study validates GPROF V7 and multiple configurations of the GPROF-NN retrieval against ground-based radar mea- surements over the conterminous United States (CONUS) and the tropical Pacific. GPROF retrievals from the GPMMicrowave Imager (GMI) are validated over several years and their ability to reproduce regional precipitation characteristics and effective resolution is assessed. Moreover, the retrieval accuracy for several other sensors of the constellation is evaluated. The validation of GPROF V7 indicates that the retrieval produces reliable precipitation estimates over CONUS. During all four assessed years, annual mean precipitation is within 8% of gauge-corrected radar measurements. Although biases of up to 25% are observed over sub-regions of the CONUS and the tropical Pacific, the retrieval reproduces the principal precipitation characteristics of each region. The effective resolution of GPROF V7 is found to be 51km over CONUS and 18km over the tropical Pacific. GPROF V7 produces robust precipitation estimates also for the other sensors of the GPM constellation. The evaluation further shows that the GPROF-NN retrievals have the potential to significantly improve the GPROF precipi- tation retrievals. GPROF-NN 1D, the most basic neural network implementation of GPROF, improves the mean-squared error, mean absolute error, correlation and symmetric mean absolute percentage error by about twenty percent for GPROF GMI while the effective resolution is improved to 31km over land and 15km over oceans. The two GPROF-NN retrievals that are based on convolutional neural networks can further improve the accuracy up to the level of the combined radar/radiometer retrievals from the GPM core observatory. However, these retrievals are found to overfit on the viewing geometry at the center of the swath, reducing their overall accuracy to that of GPROF-NN 1D. For the other sensors of the constellation, the GPROF-NN retrievals produce larger biases than GPROF V7 and only GPROF-NN 3D achieves consistent improvements compared to GPROF V7 in terms of the other assessed error metrics. This points to shortcomings in the hydrometeor profiles or radiative transfer simulations used in the training of the retrievals for the other sensors of the GPM constellation as a critical limitation for improving GPM PMW retrievals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is releasing more individuals from prisons than ever before. However, returning citizens face numerous challenges transitioning back into community life and many communities remain ill-equipped in successfully supporting them. This study focuses on transportation as in integral component to the success of returning citizens. Rapid and rigorous qualitative data analysis (RADaR technique) is applied to interviews (n = 15) with individuals having returned to their community about the impact of transportation on their reentry. Analysis resulted in three primary themes; interviewees reinforced existing knowledge of the issues with transportation disadvantage, transportation is an extension of freedom, and transportation is directly connected to reentry success. These findings suggest a tiered structure of transportation freedom for returning citizens. This model of transportation will aid future researchers and policymakers in considering how to better resource returning citizens to maximize their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation retrievals from passive microwave satellite observations form the basis of many widely used precipitation products, but the performance of the retrievals depends on numerous factors such as surface type and precipitation variability. Previous evaluation efforts have identified bias dependence on precipitation regime, which may reflect the influence on retrievals of recurring factors. In this study, the concept of a regime-based evaluation of precipitation from the Goddard profiling (GPROF) algorithm is extended to cloud regimes. Specifically, GPROF V05 precipitation retrievals under four different cloud regimes are evaluated against ground radars over the United States. GPROF is generally able to accurately retrieve the precipitation associated with both organized convection and less organized storms, which collectively produce a substantial fraction of global precipitation. However, precipitation from stratocumulus systems is underestimated over land and overestimated over water. Similarly, precipitation associated with trade cumulus environments is underestimated over land, while biases over water depend on the sensor's channel configuration. By extending the evaluation to more sensors and suppressed environments, these results complement insights previously obtained from precipitation regimes, thus demonstrating the potential of cloud regimes in categorizing the global atmosphere into discrete systems. Significance Statement: To understand how the accuracy of satellite precipitation depends on weather conditions, we compare the satellite estimates of precipitation against ground radars in the United States, using cloud regimes as a proxy for different recurring atmospheric systems. Consistent with previous studies, we found that errors in the satellite precipitation vary under different regimes. Satellite precipitation is, reassuringly, more accurate for storm systems that produce intense precipitation. However, in systems that produce weak or isolated precipitation, the errors are larger due to retrieval limitations. These findings highlight the important role of atmospheric states on the accuracy of satellite precipitation and the potential of cloud regimes for categorizing the global atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two years (2018–2019) of different precipitation products are assessed for their skill in capturing orographic precipitation over the western United States (30°–50°N & 105°–135°W) using two popular methods. The first method defines orographic indices using orographic enhancement and moisture content that represents the amount of moisture advected over sloping terrain. In contrast, the second method classifies precipitation events into orographic and non‐orographic events. NCEP Stage‐IV product is used as a reference. All of the evaluated products (radar, microwave imager/sounder, and infrared) show more significant errors for the orographic than the non‐orographic events. The Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) products; Dual‐frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), combined radar and radiometer (COMBINE), and GPM Microwave Imager (GMI), and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS), severely underestimate the precipitation rates, especially for heavy precipitation (>4 mm/day), whereas infrared precipitation (used in the Integrated Multi‐satellite Retrievals for GPM; IMERG‐IR) and a reanalysis product (ERA5) show relatively better estimation. It was found that the amount of precipitation over the reference (rate BIAS) varies with seasons, so in cold seasons satellite precipitation products tend to underestimate while in warm‐season they (except DPR) tend to overestimate precipitation amount. Most of the satellite products severely underestimate precipitation volume at relatively colder surfaces (<10°C) and lower TPW (<15 mm), but ERA5 shows little rate BIAS in such cases. The underestimation tends to be larger for orographic than non‐orographic events. In contrast, ERA5 shows relatively large underestimation at warmer temperatures (>20°C), where satellite products tend to overestimate precipitation amounts. Key Points: Several satellite‐based precipitation products are compared in relation with orographic enhancementSatellite‐based precipitation BIAS shows a seasonal patternPrecipitation BIAS is associated with the surface temperatures and total precipitable water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐term ecological forecasting has the potential to mitigate negative impacts of human modifications on wildlife by directing efficient action through relevant and timely predictions. We used the U.S. avian migration system to highlight ecological forecasting applications for aeroconservation. We used millions of observations from 143 weather surveillance radars to construct and evaluate a migration forecasting system for nocturnal bird migration over the contiguous United States. We identified the number of nights of mitigation required to reduce the risk of aerial hazards to 50% of avian migrants passing a given area in spring and autumn based on dynamic forecasts of migration activity. We also investigated an alternative approach, that is, employing a fixed conservation strategy based on time windows that historically capture 50% of migratory passage. In practice, during both spring and autumn, dynamic forecasts required fewer action nights compared with fixed window selection at all locations (spring: mean of 7.3 more alert days; fall: mean of 12.8 more alert days). This pattern resulted in part from the pulsed nature of bird migration captured in the radar data, where the majority (54.3%) of birds move on 10% of a migration season's nights. Our results highlight the benefits of near‐term ecological forecasting and the potential advantages of dynamic mitigation strategies over static ones, especially in the face of increasing risks to migrating birds from light pollution, wind energy infrastructure, and collisions with structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Method of Object-based Diagnostic Evaluation (MODE) is used to perform an object-based verification of approximately 1400 forecasts of composite reflectivity from the operational HRRR during April-September 2019. In this study, MODE is configured to prioritize deep, moist convective storm cells typical of those that produce severe weather across the central and eastern United States during the warm season. In particular, attributes related to distance and size are given the greatest attribute weights for computing interest in MODE. HRRR tends to overforecast all objects, but substantially overforecasts both small objects at low-reflectivity thresholds and large objects at high-reflectivity thresholds. HRRR tends to either underforecast objects in the southern and central plains or has a correct frequency bias there, whereas it overforecasts objects across the southern and eastern United States. Attribute comparisons reveal the inability of the HRRR to fully resolve convective-scale features and the impact of data assimilation and loss of skill during the initial hours of the forecasts. Scalar metrics are defined and computed based on MODE output, chiefly relying on the interest value. The object-based threat score (OTS), in particular, reveals similar performance of HRRR forecasts as does the Heidke skill score, but with differing magnitudes, suggesting value in adopting an object-based approach to forecast verification. The typical distance between centroids of objects is also analyzed and shows gradual degradation with increasing forecast length. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Improving weather forecast models requires determining where the model does well and where it does not. Gridpoint-based methods for assessing model forecasts have known shortfalls when applied to high-resolution models that can forecast individual thunderstorms. We present an object-based verification procedure that focuses on identifying actual meteorological features such as thunderstorms instead of gridpoint-by-gridpoint comparison between forecasts and verifying truth. This article reveals some of the information ascertained from this assessment and illustrates the enhancement of information obtained from object-based verification to gridpoint-based assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research quantifies the spatiotemporal statistics of composite radar reflectivity in the vicinity of severe thunderstorm reports. By using over 20 years (1996–2017) of data and 500,000 severe thunderstorm reports, this study presents the most comprehensive analysis of the mesoscale presentation of radar reflectivity composites during severe weather events to date. We first present probability matched mean composites of approximately 5,000 radar images centred on tornado reports that contain one of three types of manually‐labelled convective storm modes—namely, (a) quasi‐linear convective system (QLCS); (b) cellular; or (c) tropical system. Next, we generate composites for tornado report data stratified by EF‐scale and for four temporal periods during which notable severe weather events took place. The data are then stratified by hazard, region, season, and time of day. The results show marked spatiotemporal and intra‐hazard variability in radar presentation. In general, cellular convection is favoured in the Great Plains of the United States, whereas QLCS convection is favoured in the Southeast United States. Night and cool‐season subsets showed a preference for QLCS convection, whereas day and warm‐season subsets showed a preference for cellular convection. These results agree well with the existing literature and suggest that the data extraction and organization approach is sound. Because of this, these data will be useful for future image classification studies in climate and atmospheric sciences—particularly those involving storm mode classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarimetric radar observations from the NEXRAD WSR-88D operational radar network in the contiguous United States, routinely available since 2013, are used to reveal three prominent microphysical signatures in landfalling tropical cyclones: 1) hydrometeor size sorting within the eyewall convection, 2) vertical displacement of the melting layer within the inner core, and 3) dendritic growth layers within stratiform regions of the inner core. Size sorting signatures within eyewall convection are observed with greater frequency and prominence in more intense hurricanes, and are observed predominantly within the deep-layer environmental wind shear vector-relative quadrants that harbor the greatest frequency of deep convection (i.e., downshear and left-of-shear). Melting-layer displacements are shown that exceed 1 km in altitude compared to melting-layer altitudes in outer rainbands and are complemented by analyses of archived dropsonde data. Dendritic growth and attendant snow aggregation signatures in the inner core are found to occur more often when echo-top altitudes are low (≤10 km MSL), nearer the −15°C isotherm commonly associated with dendritic growth. These signatures, uniquely observed by polarimetric radar, provide greater insight into the physical structure and thermodynamic characteristics of tropical cyclones, which are important for improving rainfall estimation and the representation of tropical cyclones in numerical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved understanding of common differences between tornadic and nontornadic supercells is sought using a large set of observations from the operational NEXRAD WSR-88D polarimetric radar network in the contiguous United States. In particular, data from 478 nontornadic and 294 tornadic supercells during a 7-yr period (2011–17) are used to produce probability-matched composite means of microphysical and kinematic variables. Means, which are centered on echo-top maxima and in a horizontal coordinate system rotated such that storm motion points in the positive x dimension, are created in altitude relative to ground level at times of peak echo-top altitude and peak midlevel rotation for nontornadic supercells and times at and prior to the first tornado in tornadic supercells. Robust differences between supercell types are found, with consistent characteristics at and preceding tornadogenesis in tornadic storms. In particular, the mesocyclone is found to be vertically aligned in tornadic supercells and misaligned in nontornadic supercells. Microphysical differences found include a low-level radar reflectivity hook echo aligned with and ~10 km right of storm center in tornadic supercells and displaced 5–10 km down-motion in nontornadic supercells, a low-to-midlevel differential radar reflectivity dipole that is oriented more parallel to storm motion in tornadic supercells and more perpendicular in nontornadic supercells, and a separation between enhanced differential radar reflectivity and specific differential phase (with unique displacement-relative correlation coefficient reductions) at low levels that is more perpendicular to storm motion in tornadic supercells and more parallel in nontornadic supercells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new dual-polarization (DP) radar synthetic quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) product was developed using a combination of specific attenuation A, specific differential phase KDP, and reflectivity Z to calculate the precipitation rate R. Specific attenuation has advantages of being insensitive to systematic biases in Z and differential reflectivity ZDR due to partial beam blockage, attenuation, and calibration while more linearly related to R than other radar variables. However, the R(A) relationship is not applicable in areas containing ice. Therefore, the new DP QPE applies R(A) in areas where radar is observing pure rain, R(KDP) in regions potentially containing hail, and R(Z) elsewhere. Further, an evaporation correction was applied to minimize false light precipitation related to virga. The new DP QPE was evaluated in real time over the conterminous United States and showed significant improvements over previous radarQPE techniques that were based solely on R(Z) relationships. The improvements included reduced dry biases in heavy to extreme precipitation during the warm season. The new DP QPE also reduced errors and spatial discontinuities in regions impacted by partial beam blockage. Further, the new DP QPE reduced wet bias for scattered light precipitation in the southwest and north central United States where there is significant boundary layer evaporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather radars and gauge observations are the primary observations to determine the coverage and magnitude of precipitation; however, radar and gauge networks have significant coverage gaps, which can underrepresent or even miss the occurrence of precipitation. This is especially noticeable in mountainous regions and in shallow precipitation regimes. The following study presents a methodology to improve spatial representations of precipitation by seamlessly blending multiple precipitation sources within the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system. A high spatiotemporal resolution multisensor merged quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) product (MSQPE) is generated by using gauge-corrected radar QPE as a primary precipitation source with a combination of hourly gauge observations, monthly precipitation climatologies, numerical weather prediction short-term precipitation forecasts, and satellite observations to use in areas of insufficient radar coverage. The merging of the precipitation sources is dependent upon radar coverage based on an updated MRMS radar quality index, surface and atmospheric conditions, topography, gauge locations, and precipitation values. Evaluations of the MSQPE product over the western United States resulted in improved statistical measures over its individual input precipitation sources, particularly the locally gauge-corrected radar QPE. TheMSQPE scheme demonstrated its ability to sufficiently fill in areas where radar alone failed to detect precipitation due to significant beam blockage or poor coverage while minimizing the generation of false precipitation and underestimation biases that resulted from radar overshooting precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) developed by the Department of Energy has a goal of addressing challenges in understanding the global water cycle. Success depends on correct simulation of cloud and precipitation elements. However, lack of appropriate evaluation metrics has hindered the accurate representation of these elements in general circulation models. We derive metrics from the three-dimensional data of the ground-based Next generation radar (NEXRAD) network over the U.S. to evaluate both horizontal and vertical structures of precipitation elements. We coarsened the resolution of the radar observations to be consistent with the model resolution and improved the coupling of the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project Observation Simulator Package (COSP) and E3SM Atmospheric Model Version 1 (EAMv1) to obtain the best possible model output for comparison with the observations. Three warm seasons (2014-2016) of EAMv1 simulations of 3D radar reflectivity features at an hourly scale are evaluated. A general agreement in domain-mean radar reflectivity intensity is found between EAMv1 and NEXRAD below 4 km altitude; however, the model underestimates reflectivity over the central United States, which suggests that the model does not capture the mesoscale convective systems that produce much of precipitation in that region. The shape of the model estimated histogram of subgrid scale reflectivity is improved by correcting the microphysical assumptions in COSP. The model severely underestimates radar reflectivity at upper levels - the simulated echo top height is about 4 km lower than in observations - and this result is not changed by tuning any single physics parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upright convection can impact extratropical cyclone (ETC) precipitation and dynamics differently than isentropic ascent, but how often it occurs and how much it contributes to total precipitation within an ETC have not been systematically documented in previous literature. Herein, convection in ETCs is analyzed using ground‐based radar observations over the Eastern United States. Convection occupies 1%–5% of the precipitating region and constitutes 1%–15% of total cyclone precipitation. Furthermore, the location of convective activity occurs preferentially in the warm sector early in a cyclone's life cycle, and then as the storm evolves, more convection occurs along and behind the cold front. The precipitation rates in regions with convection are more likely to be stronger than those in other precipitating regions of the cyclone. However, the cyclones with the largest area‐average precipitation rates include only a small contribution from convection. Plain Language Summary: This research is motivated by the potential influence of convection on extratropical cyclone circulation. We utilize a newly derived dataset of upright convection and a cyclone‐tracking framework to quantify convective activity in extratropical cyclones over the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. We find that upright convection only occupies a small portion of the precipitating region, and the relative contribution to total precipitation has relatively small variability as the cyclone evolves. We find that the location of convective activity occurs preferentially in the warm sector early in a cyclone's life cycle, and as the storm evolves, more convection occurs along and behind the cold front. We find that precipitation rates in regions with convection are more likely to be stronger than those in other precipitating regions of the cyclone. However, the cyclones with the largest area‐average precipitation rates include only a small contribution from convection. Key Points: Convection occurs in 1%–5% of precipitating regions of extratropical cyclones over eastern United States and contributes 1%–15% of total precipitationThe majority of upright convection occurs ahead of the cold front and disperses into other regions as the cyclone agesWhile convection produces larger rain rates, cyclones with greater total precipitation do not have a large convective contribution [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a polyphagous invasive insect and currently one of the most threatening agricultural pests in the USA and globally. Nymphs are highly mobile, moving among host plants, and causing significant damage. Thus, understanding dispersal biology for all life stages is critical for the development of reliable monitoring and management programs. Here, we evaluated the influence of harmonic radar as a tool to study dispersal ecology of nymphal H. halys; we measured the impact of glues and tag attachment on survivorship and mobility in the laboratory and validated in the field that tagged and released nymphs could be tracked on baited and unbaited host and non‐host plants using harmonic radar. In the laboratory, four glues were evaluated for attaching harmonic radar tags securely to nymphs, and survivorship with attached tags was measured. There were no significant differences in survivorship or vertical and horizontal movement among nymphs with tags affixed with the glue treatments compared with the untagged control. Based on numerically greater survivorship of nymphs with tags affixed with Loctite glass glue, a field validation study of tagged nymphs released in host (apple tree) and non‐host (mowed grass) with or without H. halys pheromonal stimuli present revealed that nymphs could be successfully relocated using harmonic radar after 48 h. Among treatments, 83% of nymphs remained in baited and unbaited apple trees, 50% of nymphs remained in baited mowed grass plots, and in unbaited mowed grass plots, 17% of fifth instars, and 0% of fourth instars were retained. The absence of negative effects on mobility, survivorship, and field tracking validates that harmonic radar can be used to study dispersal ecology of nymphal H. halys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas affect terrestrial ecological processes and local weather, but we know little about their effect on aerial ecological processes.Here, we identify urban from non‐urban areas based on the intensity of artificial light at night (ALAN) in the landscape, and, along with weather covariates, evaluate the effect of urbanization on flight altitudes of nocturnally migrating birds.Birds are attracted to ALAN; hence, we predicted that altitudes would be lower over urban than over non‐urban areas. However, other factors associated with urbanization may also affect flight altitudes. For example, surface temperature and terrain roughness are higher in urban areas, increasing air turbulence and height of the boundary layer, and affecting local winds.We used data from nine weather surveillance radars in the eastern United States to estimate altitudes at five quantiles of the vertical distribution of birds migrating at night over urban and non‐urban areas during five consecutive spring and autumn migration seasons. We fit Generalized Linear Mixed Models by season for each of the five quantiles of bird flight altitude and their differences between urban and non‐urban areas.After controlling for other environmental variables and contrary to our prediction, we found that birds generally fly higher over urban areas compared to rural areas in spring, and marginally higher at the mid‐layers of the vertical distribution in autumn. We also identified a small interaction effect between urbanization and crosswind speed, and between urbanization and surface air temperature, on flight altitudes. We also found that the difference in flight altitudes of nocturnally migrating birds between urban and non‐urban areas varied among radars and seasons, but was consistently higher over urban areas throughout the years sampled.Our results suggest that the effects of urbanization on wildlife extend into the aerosphere and are complex, stressing the need of understanding the influence of anthropogenic factors on airspace habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing observations, especially those from ground-based radars, have been used extensively to discriminate between severe and nonsevere storms. Recent upgrades to operational remote sensing networks in the United States have provided unprecedented spatial and temporal sampling to study such storms. These networks help forecasters subjectively identify storms capable of producing severe weather at the ground; however, uncertainties remain in how to objectively identify severe thunderstorms using the same data. Here, three large-area datasets (geostationary satellite, ground-based radar, and ground-based lightning detection) are used over 28 recent events in an attempt to objectively discriminate between severe and nonsevere storms, with an additional focus on severe storms that produce tornadoes. Among these datasets, radar observations, specifically those at mid- and upper levels (altitudes at and above 4 km), are shown to provide the greatest objective discrimination. Physical and kinematic storm characteristics from all analyzed datasets imply that significantly severe [≥2-in. (5.08 cm) hail and/or ≥65-kt (33.4 m s-1) straight-line winds] and tornadic storms have stronger upward motion and rotation than nonsevere and less severe storms. In addition, these metrics are greatest in tornadic storms during the time in which tornadoes occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrow regions of intense, banded snowfall present hazardous travel conditions due to rapid onset, high precipitation rates, and lowered visibility. Despite their importance, there are few verification studies of snowbands in operational forecast models. The objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model to predict snowbands in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. An automated band-detection algorithm was applied to a 3-yr period of simulated and observed radar reflectivity to compare snowband climatologies. This algorithm uses the distributions of reflectivities in contiguous precipitation regions to determine a band intensity threshold. The predictability of snowbands on a case-by-case basis was also evaluated using an object-oriented approach. The distribution of HRRR forecast banding resembles that of the observations, but with a significant positive frequency bias. This may partially be due to underrepresentation of observed bands in our verification dataset due to limited radar coverage in portions of the central United States. On a case-by-case basis, traditional skill metrics indicate limited predictability, but allowing for small timing discrepancies dramatically improves scores. Object-oriented verification yields mixed results, with 30% of forecasts receiving a score indicative of a well-predicted event. However, 69% of cases have at least one forecast lead demonstrating skill, suggesting the HRRR is successful in depicting environments conducive to band formation. These results suggest adopting a probabilistic, ensemble approach, and indicate that the deterministic HRRR is best suited for the identification of regions of elevated snowband risk and not precise timing or location information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and weather is frequently cited as a contributing factor in fatal crashes. Previous studies have investigated the link between these crashes and precipitation typically using station-based observations that, while providing a good estimate of the prevailing conditions on a given day or hour, often fail to capture the conditions present at the actual time and location of a crash. Using a multiyear, high-resolution radar reanalysis and information on 125,012 fatal crashes spanning the entire continental United States over a 6-yr period, we find that the overall risk of a fatal crash increases by approximately 34% during active precipitation. The risk is significant in all regions of the continental United States, and it is highest during the morning rush hour and during the winter months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paired study, we apply a recently developed high-resolution bathymetry estimation algorithm ("cBathy") to X-band marine radar observations at two nearshore field sites. The algorithm exploits observations of the spatial structure of wave phase to attain wavenumber estimates, inverts the linear water wave dispersion relation for depth, and then applies a Kalman filter to objectively update the bathymetry estimates. Previously, performance has only been tested using optical video observations. In this first of two papers, performance of the algorithm using X-band radar image time series is tested at two disparate barred beach environments: Duck, NC, USA, and Benson Beach, WA, USA. Each of the test beaches is either co-located with (Duck, NC) or geographically close to (Benson Beach, WA) those utilized in the original algorithm verification. Concurrent echosounder surveys are used as ground truth. The bulk performance of the radar-derived bathymetry estimate at Duck, NC, achieves 0.49 m root-mean-square error (RMSE) with 0.26 m bias deep. This compares well with the bulk performance of the concurrent estimate derived using optical video (0.44 m RMSE and 0.23 m bias deep). The radar-derived bathymetry estimate performance at Benson Beach, is similar (0.35 m RMSE and 0.11 m bias shallow), and is comparable to that of an optical video derived estimate at a similar Pacific Northwest beach (0.56 m RMSE and 0.41 m bias shallow). At both beaches, significantly higher performance is achieved at locations deeper than 2 m (offshore of the surfzone) than at locations shallower than 2 m (surfzone), where errors are often a large fraction of the total depth. Lastly, several weeks of observations are utilized to assess the sensitivity of algorithm quality control to environmental conditions. Thresholds based on the shoreward component of wind stress and offshore wave steepness are identified and shown to impact the areal coverage of radar-derived bathymetric estimates. Overall, these results demonstrate the viability of marine radar observations as input to the cBathy algorithm and delineate some environmental constraints on algorithm performance. In the companion paper, the algorithm is extended to areas where tidal currents are important, including an ebb tidal shoal and an estuary mouth. Highlights • Depth estimation algorithm, cBathy, is applied to X-band radar image time series. • Performance is assessed at two beaches (North Carolina and Washington, USA). • Accuracy via radar is comparable to video-based performance (reported previously). • Frequency of updates increases with wave height and when wind blows toward shore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Precipitation annual maxima estimated from NEXRAD are evaluated over the CONUS. • Accuracy of radar-based estimates varies with magnitude and duration. • Uncertainty in radar-based IDF curves exhibits climate dependence. The lack of knowledge on precipitation frequency over ungauged areas introduces a significant source of uncertainty in relevant engineering designs and risk estimation procedures. Radar-based observations offer precipitation information over ungauged areas and thus have gained increasing attention as a potential solution to this problem. However, due to their relative short data records and inherent uncertainty sources, their ability to provide accurate estimates on the frequency of precipitation extremes requires evaluation. This study involves the evaluation of at-site precipitation frequency estimates from NEXRAD Stage IV radar precipitation dataset. We derive precipitation annual maxima series from the 16yrs record (2002–2017) of NEXRAD and we compare against 539 long-term (50yrs) hourly gauge records. In addition, Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves are estimated from both radar and gauge dataset and compared. IDF estimation is based on fitting the Generalize Extreme Value distribution to annual precipitation maxima. Evaluation is carried out over the contiguous United States and results are grouped and presented for five dominant climate classes and for a range of return period and precipitation durations. NEXRAD was shown to overestimate intensities at shorter durations (1- and 3-h) and low quantiles, while it tends to underestimate higher quantiles at longer durations (24 h). In addition, evaluation of the IDF curves estimated from NEXRAD revealed a distinct geographic dependence with certain regions exhibiting a tendency to overestimation (e.g. east of the Rocky Mountains) or underestimation (Midwest). Overall, this analysis suggests that, while significant discrepancies may exist, there are several cases where NEXRAD provide estimates within the uncertainty bounds of the reference rain gauge dataset. The climate/geographic region and the temporal duration are important aspects to consider. Findings provided in this work on these aspects will hopefully serve as a general guideline for those interested in using NEXRAD estimates for further research or applications on precipitation extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather surveillance radars are increasingly used for monitoring the movements and abundances of animals in the airspace. However, analysis of weather radar data remains a specialised task that can be technically challenging. Major hurdles are the difficulty of accessing and visualising radar data on a software platform familiar to ecologists and biologists, processing the low‐level data into products that are biologically meaningful, and summarizing these results in standardized measures. To overcome these hurdles, we developed the open source R package bioRad, which provides a toolbox for accessing, visualizing and analyzing weather radar data for biological studies. It provides functionality to access low‐level radar data, process these data into meaningful biological information on animal speeds and directions at different altitudes in the atmosphere, visualize these biological extractions, and calculate further summary statistics. The package aims to standardize methods for extracting and reporting biological signals from weather radars. Here we describe a roadmap for analyzing weather radar data using bioRad. We also define weather radar equivalents for familiar measures used in the field of migration ecology, such as migration traffic rates, and recommend several good practices for reporting these measures. The bioRad package integrates with low‐level data from both the European radar network (OPERA) and the radar network of the United States (NEXRAD). bioRad aims to make weather radar studies in ecology easier and more reproducible, allowing for better inter‐comparability of studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Evaluates utility of scatterometer data for estimation of urban built-up volume. • Dense Sampling Method-processed scatterometer data are compared to airborne lidar. • Analysis conducted for nine urban areas in the United States. • Strong, linear correlations observed between radar- and lidar-derived datasets. • Results promote three-dimensional approach to land use/land cover analyses. Abstract Accurately mapping urban infrastructure and extent is a high priority for resource management and service allocation as well as for addressing environmental, socioeconomic, and geopolitical concerns. Most available data products only document surficial (two-dimensional) land use and land cover (LULC), yet a substantial component of urban growth occurs in the vertical dimension. Light detection and ranging (lidar) data offer the potential for monitoring three-dimensional (3D) change, but the extreme lack of systematic lidar coverage worldwide inflicts considerable gaps in both spatial and temporal coverage. Satellite scatterometer (radar) data may serve as an alternative data source for characterizing urban growth and development in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The accuracy of these radar-based datasets for estimating building volumes remains to be validated quantitatively. For nine U.S. cities, we test whether scatterometer data can be used to estimate 3D urban built-up volume. We found strong, linear correlations between the lidar-derived and radar-derived building volume estimates for all cities with r2 values as high as 0.98 when using spatial trend analysis. Given the high expense that limits lidar data acquisition to small areas at sporadic points in time, satellite scatterometer data provide a breakthrough method for monitoring both vertical growth and horizontal expansion of cities across the world with a continuous decadal time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factors affecting the inland and orographic enhancement of lake-effect precipitation are poorly understood, yet critical for operational forecasting. Here we use nine cool seasons (16 November-15 April) of radar data from the Montague/Ft. Drum, New York (KTYX), WSR-88D, the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and observations from the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign to examine variations in lake-effect precipitation enhancement east of Lake Ontario and over the Tug Hill Plateau (hereafter Tug Hill). Key factors affecting the inland and orographic enhancement in this region include the strength of the incident boundary layer flow, the intensity of the lake-induced convective available potential energy (LCAPE), and the mode of the lake-effect system. Stronger flow favors higher precipitation rates, a precipitation maximumdisplaced farther downwind, and greater inland and orographic enhancement. The effects of LCAPE depend upon the strength of the flow. During periods of weak flow, higher LCAPE favors lower precipitation rates, a maximum closer to the shoreline, and lesser inland and orographic enhancement. During periods of strong flow, higher LCAPE favors higher precipitation rates, a maximum displaced farther downwind, and greater inland and orographic enhancement. Banded (nonbanded) modes favor higher (lower) precipitation rates, lesser (greater) inland and orographic enhancement, and a maximum closer to the shoreline (over Tug Hill). These results, for both manually measured and radar-estimated precipitation, are robust when many lake-effect events are considered, but substantial variability exists during individual events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We propose the origami plot, which maintains the original functionality of a radar chart and avoids potential misuse of its connected regions, with newly added features to better assist multicriteria decision-making., Study Design and Setting: Built upon a radar chart, the origami plot adds additional auxiliary axes and points such that the area of the connected region of all dots is invariant to the ordering of axes. As such, it enables ranking different individuals by the overall performance for multicriteria decision-making while maintaining the intuitive visual appeal of the radar chart. We develop extensions of the origami plot, including the weighted origami plot, which allows reweighting of each attribute to define the overall performance, and the pairwise origami plot, which highlights comparisons between two individuals., Results: We illustrate the different versions of origami plots using the hospital compare database developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The plot shows individual hospital's performance on mortality, readmission, complication, and infection, as well as patient experience and timely and effective care, as well as their overall performance across these metrics. The weighted origami plot allows weighing the attributes differently when some are more important than others. We illustrate the potential use of the pairwise origami plot in electronic health records (EHR) system to monitor five clinical measures (body mass index [BMI]), fasting glucose level, blood pressure, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein ([LDL] cholesterol) of a patient across multiple hospital visits., Conclusion: The origami plot is a useful visualization tool to assist multicriteria decision making. It improves radar charts by avoiding potential misuse of the connected regions. It has several new features and allows flexible customization., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Documentation of international trade in non-CITES species is generally poor. As a result, illegal trade in nationally-protected non-CITES species is often hard to detect. To show that such illicit trade nevertheless occurs, this study has analysed import and export records of the Giant Blue-tongued Skink Tiliqua gigas for the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) between 1999 and 2015. EU trade data for T. gigas was obtained from the UNEP-WCMCM CITES Trade Database. Trade data for the US was extracted from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS). We observed a sudden shift in source codes (from wild-caught to captive-bred) coinciding with legislative changes, which has been indicative of laundering practices in the past. In the US, no less than 45% of all imported T. gigas was declared as wild-caught, constituting a direct violation of Indonesia's national laws and the US Lacey Act. The keeping of trade records is subjected to the willingness of individual countries, yet unwillingness to collect such data can severely threaten species when over-exploitation or laundering practices remain undetected. A CITES Appendix III-listing, obligating participating countries to maintain trade records, would facilitate improved detection and monitoring of illegal trade in nationally-protected species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island of Kaua'i, Hawaii, USA, holds a large breeding populations of the endangered Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) and a majority of the world population of the threatened Newell's Shearwater (Puffinus newelli). We evaluated island-wide population trends of both species. For Newell's Shearwaters, we considered radar counts at 13 sites between 1993 and 2013 and annual island-wide tallies of fledglings retrieved after being grounded by light attraction in 1979-2015 (Save Our Shearwaters [SOS] program}. For Hawaiian Petrels, we considered radar counts alone. Radar data indicated a 78% decline overall in numbers of Hawaiian Petrels (at an average rate of ~6% per year) and a 94% decline overall in numbers of Newell's Shearwaters (at an average rate of ~13% per year) during the survey period. Most (92%) radar sites showed significant declines of Newell's Shearwaters across the entire survey period, as did 62% of sites for Hawaiian Petrels. The SOS recovery effort collected 30,522 Newell's Shearwater fledglings between 1979 and 2015. When we compared this dataset in pre- and post-Hurricane Iniki (September 1992) periods, we found a significant downward trend after Hurricane Iniki, similar to the trend seen in the radar data. The large-scale declines found in this study are not surprising, considering the significant threats facing both species on Kaua'i, which include powerline collisions, light attraction, introduced predators, and habitat modification--threats which were potentially exacerbated after Hurricane Iniki. Improved conservation initiatives and an increased understanding of the various threats facing the 2 species are key to reversing these declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current state of race relations in the United States have brought to light the issue of the militarization of local police, where officers are being provided with unused equipment from the government's war chest through the 1033 Program. But, is this increase in militarization beneficial, or does it harm relations between citizens and police? Using data on purchases provided by the Defense Logistics Agency, this paper analyzes effects of military purchases on assaults on police officers. Fixed effects negative binomial regressions on state-month level data show that stockpiling of material militarization equipment (guns, armor, and clothing) exhibits a statistically significant decrease in assaults, with guns showing no significant relation on assaults. However, operational militarization purchases (surveillance, sonar, and radar) lead to an increase of assaults, suggesting that there may be unforeseen consequences of increased militarization due to a change of structure and information gathering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed 4-years of Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) incidence angle normalized C-band backscatter, Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) precipitation and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop yield data over the contiguous United States (U.S.). Large negative anomalies in backscatter are evident over the U.S. during the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons, coincident with two instances of severe drought. The backscatter anomalies were correlated with diminished growing season precipitation and with reduced crop yields reflecting where drought-induced impacts on above-ground biomass production occurred. During periods of acute drought, differences in diurnal backscatter were reduced and in some cases reversed reflecting diminished nocturnal leave rehydration. The results indicate that the C-band, VV-polarized ASCAT backscatter data is sensitive to interannual variability in agricultural productivity rather than soil moisture, and can offer an important geophysical monitoring tool capable of identifying and assessing drought-related vegetation responses independent of and complementary to satellite optical/near-infrared remote sensing data. This technique is flexible and adaptable, providing a capability to address region-specific needs. The twice-daily, weather independent and near-real time global monitoring capabilities of ASCAT and similar microwave instruments (e.g. RapidSCAT, Sentinel-1) can help improve drought preparedness and mitigation planning allowing improved water resource management for agriculture on the local as well as the state level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of radar which can be used for the detection of distant objects invisible to the human eye. Topics discussed include shortening of the phrase Radio Detection and Ranging into radar by the U.S. Navy in 1940, the use of the telemobiloscope, predecessor of radar, for detecting ships in the fog, and the further development of radar during the World War II.