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Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1st September 2009 in Ouagadougou

Received: 16 October 2017     Accepted: 3 January 2019     Published: 24 January 2019
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Abstract

With the exponential increasing of mobile phone users, the CML network in West Africa is growing, and thus providing a high potential for CML-derived precipitation measurements. In this work we use the performances data of the CMLs to determine the rainfall quantities of the rainy event which marked the memory of the inhabitants of the capital Ouagadougou on September 1st, 2009. In this study we use the attenuation of a microwave link to establish the rain rate. The working frequency is 13 GHz, the path length 7.5 Km and vertical polarization. The time series of attenuation are transformed into rain rates and compared with rain gauge data. The method has successful in quantifying the rainfall. The correlation between 1 hour data of the microwave link and the rain gauge is 0.63. The cumulative rainfall bias during the event less than 5%. These results demonstrate the opportunity to use the microwave backhauling in mobile network to assess rainfall in Africa in this context where the hydrometeorological risk increases every day.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11
Page(s) 1-4
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Precipitations, Attenuation, Telecommunications, Floods, Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE)

References
[1] H. Messer, “Environmental Monitoring by Wireless Communication Networks,” Science (80-. )., vol. 312, no. 5774, pp. 713–713, 2006.
[2] H. Leijnse, R. Uijlenhoet, and J. N. M. Stricker, “Microwave link rainfall estimation: Effects of link length and frequency, temporal sampling, power resolution, and wet antenna attenuation,” Adv. Water Resour., vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 1481–1493, Nov. 2008.
[3] H. Leijnse, R. Uijlenhoet, and J. N. M. Stricker, “Hydrometeorological application of a microwave link: 2. Precipitation,” Water Resour. Res., vol. 43, no. 4, p. n/a-n/a, Apr. 2007.
[4] H. Leijnse, R. Uijlenhoet, J. N. M. Stricker, and Hoogleraar, “Hydrometeorological application of microwave links: Measurement of evaporation and precipitation,” Wageningen University, 2007.
[5] C. Chwala et al., “Precipitation observation using microwave backhaul links in the alpine and pre-alpine region of Southern Germany,” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 741–776, Jan. 2012.
[6] A. Zinevich, P. Alpert, and H. Messer, “Estimation of rainfall fields using commercial microwave communication networks of variable density,” Adv. Water Resour., vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 1470–1480, Nov. 2008.
[7] H. Messer, “Capitalizing on Cellular Technology—Opportunities and Challenges for Near Ground Weather Monitoring”, Environments, vol. 5, no. 7, p. 73, 2018.
[8] A. Doumounia, M. Gosset, F. Cazenave, M. Kacou, and F. Zougmore, “Rainfall monitoring based on microwave links from cellular telecommunication networks: First results from a West African test bed,” Geophys. Res. Lett., p. n/a-n/a, Aug. 2014.
[9] M. Gosset et al., “Improving rainfall measurement in gauge poor regions thanks to mobile telecommunication networks,” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 97, no. 3, pp. ES49-ES51, 2016.
[10] S. Moumouni, M. Gosset, and E. Houngninou, “Main features of rain drop size distributions observed in Benin, West Africa, with optical disdrometers,” Main, vol. 35, pp. 1–5, 2008.
[11] a. Zinevich, H. Messer, and P. Alpert, “Prediction of rainfall intensity measurement errors using commercial microwave communication links,” Atmos. Meas. Tech., vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 1385–1402, Oct. 2010.
[12] H. Leijnse, R. Uijlenhoet, and J. Stricker, “Microwave link rainfall estimation: Effects of link length and frequency, temporal sampling, power resolution, and wet antenna attenuation,” Adv. Water Resour., vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 1481–1493, Nov. 2008.
[13] a. Overeem, H. Leijnse, and R. Uijlenhoet, “Measuring urban rainfall using microwave links from commercial cellular communication networks,” Water Resour. Res., vol. 47, no. 12, p. n/a-n/a, Dec. 2011.
[14] M. Schleiss and A. Berne, “Identification of Dry and Rainy Periods Using Telecommunication Microwave Links,” IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Lett., vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 611–615, Jul. 2010.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ali Doumounia, Moumouni Sawadogo, Serge Roland Sanou, François Zougmoré. (2019). Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1st September 2009 in Ouagadougou. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 8(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11

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    ACS Style

    Ali Doumounia; Moumouni Sawadogo; Serge Roland Sanou; François Zougmoré. Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1st September 2009 in Ouagadougou. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2019, 8(1), 1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11

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    AMA Style

    Ali Doumounia, Moumouni Sawadogo, Serge Roland Sanou, François Zougmoré. Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1st September 2009 in Ouagadougou. Am J Environ Prot. 2019;8(1):1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11,
      author = {Ali Doumounia and Moumouni Sawadogo and Serge Roland Sanou and François Zougmoré},
      title = {Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1st September 2009 in Ouagadougou},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-4},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20190801.11},
      abstract = {With the exponential increasing of mobile phone users, the CML network in West Africa is growing, and thus providing a high potential for CML-derived precipitation measurements. In this work we use the performances data of the CMLs to determine the rainfall quantities of the rainy event which marked the memory of the inhabitants of the capital Ouagadougou on September 1st, 2009. In this study we use the attenuation of a microwave link to establish the rain rate. The working frequency is 13 GHz, the path length 7.5 Km and vertical polarization. The time series of attenuation are transformed into rain rates and compared with rain gauge data. The method has successful in quantifying the rainfall. The correlation between 1 hour data of the microwave link and the rain gauge is 0.63. The cumulative rainfall bias during the event less than 5%. These results demonstrate the opportunity to use the microwave backhauling in mobile network to assess rainfall in Africa in this context where the hydrometeorological risk increases every day.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AU  - Ali Doumounia
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    AU  - François Zougmoré
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    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190801.11
    AB  - With the exponential increasing of mobile phone users, the CML network in West Africa is growing, and thus providing a high potential for CML-derived precipitation measurements. In this work we use the performances data of the CMLs to determine the rainfall quantities of the rainy event which marked the memory of the inhabitants of the capital Ouagadougou on September 1st, 2009. In this study we use the attenuation of a microwave link to establish the rain rate. The working frequency is 13 GHz, the path length 7.5 Km and vertical polarization. The time series of attenuation are transformed into rain rates and compared with rain gauge data. The method has successful in quantifying the rainfall. The correlation between 1 hour data of the microwave link and the rain gauge is 0.63. The cumulative rainfall bias during the event less than 5%. These results demonstrate the opportunity to use the microwave backhauling in mobile network to assess rainfall in Africa in this context where the hydrometeorological risk increases every day.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Physical Sciences, Institute of Sciences, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

  • Department of Physics, University Ouaga1 Pr Joseph Ki-zebo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

  • Department of Computer, Regulatory Authority for Electronic Telecommunications and Post, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

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