Rain patterns motion over a region deduced from radar measurements

The knowledge of spatial and temporal evolution of precipitation patterns becomes important in the design of communication systems operating at the frequencies above 10 GHz (SHF) that have to counteract the attenuation by rain. One year of ground rain data obtained from weather radar measurements performed near Milan in Italy is analyzed to find out the preferential directions of motion of precipitation patterns over the observed region. The pattern motion is estimated by means of the cross-correlation procedure applied to 461 pairs of ground rain maps 18 minutes apart, originating from 88 separate rain events. The average velocity field of pattern displacement is found, showing an evident polarization towards east directions. The results may be seen as a contribution to the radio-climatological characterization of the region, aimed to improve rain-attenuation models required in the engineering of the SHF systems.