PhD course in
Precipitation Measurement and Analysis in
Hydrology and Urban Drainage
(preliminary course description)
Time: May 2010 – 5 days + homework
Place: Aalborg University, Department of Civil Engineering, Denmark
Objective: The objective is to give the participants insight into central methods for measuring and analyzing
precipitation. Special attention will be given to application and analysis of precipitation data for
hydrological studies in rural and urban areas.
Credits: 5 ETCS
Presentations: Presentations will be given by n1, nn2 DMI, nn1,nn3, DTU and nn1, nn2 AAU
Contents: The course will give the necessary background for measuring and using precipitation data in
different hydrological application. Which processes are responsible for forming precipitation in the
atmosphere? and how will for example climate change affect precipitation patterns? The mathematical
models used for predicting precipitation is discussed in relation to estimating the quantitative precipitation.
There will be strong focus on sensor technology, where different techniques and instruments are studied
and compared. State-of-the-art weather radars and rain gauges are used in the course and theory will be
combined with practical work. The recorded precipitation is often in its raw form less interesting.
Precipitation measurements can be used directly for simulation, however, the statistical representation of
the time series often yield much more information. Methods for extracting information from time series
and generate mathematical rain generators for numerical modeling are presented. Uncertainty related to
measuring and using precipitation data in models is very important and requires special attention. Finally,
application of precipitation data in different hydrological models are demonstrated and compared.
Part 1 – Fundamental meteorology for hydrologist and engineers
Part 2 – Sensor technology
Part 3 – Rain data analysis
The course put emphasis on “hands-on” learning with practical exercises and workshops.
The student is expected to produce a poster in relation to the course work
Prerequisites: Knowledge on statistics and basic hydrology.