Estimation of Rain Intensity Spectra over the Continental United States Using Ground Radar–Gauge Measurements

A high-resolution surface rainfall product is used to estimate rain characteristics over the continental United States as a function of rain intensity. By defining data at 4-km horizontal resolutions and 1-h temporal resolutions as an individual precipitating or nonprecipitating sample, statistics of rain occurrence and rain volume including their geographical and seasonal variations are documented. Quantitative estimations are also conducted to evaluate the impact of missing light rain events due to satellite sensors’ detection capabilities. It is found that statistics of rain characteristics have large seasonal and geographical variations across the continental United States. Although heavy rain events (>10 mm h−1) only occupy 2.6% of total rain occurrence, they may contribute to 27% of total rain volume. Light rain events (