A Region-Tree-Based Approach for the Verification of Precipitation Forecasts

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes a region-tree-based precipitation forecast verification approach, which is then used to assess the performance of a numerical model forecast at various scales. In this verification approach, the forecast and observation fields are first represented using region-tree structures. The verification approach consists of three procedures: calculation of spatial structural properties of the forecast and observation trees, matching the forecast tree with the observation tree, and deforming the forecast tree to resemble the observation tree. Based on these procedures, the tree-based verification approach aims at determining the spatial structural differences, displacement errors, and intensity errors between the forecast and the observation at different scales. The behavior of the proposed verification approach is investigated by applications to a standard verification dataset from the spatial forecast verification intercomparison project.