Estimated precipitation characteristics arising from 145.194 reflectivity fields, from 827 days, during the period from 1998 to 2003, obtained at the Weather Radar of São Paulo, were analysed. The events were classified according to the intensity of precipitation in Convectives and Stratiforms. Five types of morphologic systems were identified: Isolated Convection (CI), Maritime Breeze (BM), Squall Lines (LI), Dispersed Bands (BD), and Cold Fronts (FF). Convection events dominate in spring and summer and Stratiforms in the Autumn and Winter. CI and BM have occurred more frequently between October and March, while the cold fronts from April to September. Dispersed Bands occurred throughout the year, and the lines of instability did not occur only on June and July. A comparison between the telemetric measured precipitation and the Radar estimated one has been done, and a positive bias, of the Radar accumulations for 10, 30 and 60 minutes, was shown on the majority of cases. To integrate the precipitation estimations from the Radar to the telemetric network measurements, by means of an objective statistical analysis, the structures of spatial correlation, for rain accumulation during 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes for the five types of characterized systems, was obtained from the Radar precipitation fields. The average spatial correlation curves of all the precipitation events of each system were fitted to a sixth order polynomial function. The results indicate significant differences in the spatial structures of the correlation among the precipitation systems.
precipitation systems; weather radar; accumulated precipitation; spatial correlation
