CHRS - The Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing at UCI







CA DWR Research Projects


PERSIANN-CONNECT

An Object-Oriented Satellite Precipitation Database for California Water Resources Management

Introduction

The ability to predict seasonal precipitation and runoff is extraordinarily important for ensuring informed decision making in California's water resources management. If seasonal predictions are timely made and accurate, integrated regional water resources management (IRWM) can plan in advance all aspects of water resources in a region through mutually beneficial solutions. Recent innovations in computational sciences and machine learning have extended human capability to harvest from huge remotely sensed data critical information that is essential to understanding cloud-precipitation systems. This project, building on our previous work (Ashouri et al., 2014, Sellars et al., 2013) will provide DWR a new online, user-friendly interface to access the PERSIANN-CONNECT database which records the extreme precipitation events such as atmospheric rivers, extra-tropical cyclones and monsoon rainfalls. The proposed new capability will help researchers and water resource managers to better understand what causes these changes and thereby advance the predictability for extreme precipitations.

The objectives for this project are to:

  1. Develop a flexible searching interface for a PostgreSQL database-PERSIANN-CONNECT for streamlining web accessible information on historical and most recent significant precipitation events. Our system will act as an online search system for researchers, operational managers, and academic, government and private institutions.
  2. Create integrated views, access, or transactions to disparate information sources. This includes linking the satellite precipitation database to the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) and California's Atmosphere River Observatories, and other observational networks and platforms for studying large precipitating systems across California and the Western U.S.