Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
effect of mountains between the current radar position and the basin. The weather radar
usually suffers partial or total blockade when it is located in mountainous regions. The
current location of the Cerro Catedral radar can limit the coverage of the radar when it
requires negative angles in the vertical measurements to monitor the valley, affecting the
precipitation estimates (Joss and Waldvogel, 1990; Sauvageot, 1994; Collier, 1996; Smith,
1998).
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION FLOW
Extreme event
forecast
YES
24 h forecast
Rain (QPF)
Winds
Te m p e ra t u re
Streamflow
Meteorological
Data
Radiosonde
surface met
stations
Wind profile
satellite
Boundary
Conditions
Numerical
Weather
Prediction
HIGH RISK
PREVENTION
ACTION
15 minutes
Monitoring
Rainfall
Winds
Te m p e r a t u re
Extreme
condition
observed
YES
Rainfall radar
estimation
HIGH RISK
Regional climate
and weather
history
Determination
of threshold
values
Verification of
weather and
streamflow
forecast, and
QPF
PREVENTION
ACTION:
RESPONSE
To build confidence
in the information
Fig. 12. Meteorological information flow of Early Warning System.
In order to achieve a complete three-dimensional coverage of México City a second radar
deployment in the opposite extreme of the basin is required. Several conditions of
propagation either from the present radar or from others possible positions (Fig. 13a)
were attempted to get the greater coverage area (Méndez et al., 2009). The site selected
was the Cerro de la Estrella located at the central eastern of Mexico Valley (Fig. 13b) had
shown more adequate. The Cerro de la Estrella is at an approximate elevation of 300 m
above the City of Mexico and therefore is able to scan both stratiform and convective
precipitation (Fig. 14). The radar coverage was obtained from a Geographic Information
System.
