| The NEXRAD rainfall on this map is produced by the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. This rainfall product is known as Stage IV NEXRAD and is a further processed version of the NEXRAD radar that you see on the news. This product is used by the NWS as a tool at its River Forecasting Centers to predict river flooding across the U.S. and some parts of Canada and Mexico. The rainfall values are derived from a multi-sensor approach. Hourly precipitation estimates from the NEXRAD radar stations are calibrated with real time ground rainfall gauge reports. Where there is limited or no radar coverage, satellite precipitation estimates are incorporated. The rainfall data are updated hourly and quality controlled in real time, 24 hours a day at about 35 minutes past the hour. The data are combined into a nationwide mosaic of rainfall data at a resolution of 4 km by 4 km. Because this is a multi-sensor rainfall estimate, it has been shown to be an accurate method for estimating rainfall over large areas.Spatial Rainfall Consulting has developed a system that automatically pulls this data from the National Weather Service and serves it up in different formats so that is can be easily used at the grower level in both visual and tabular format. This map displays Stage IV NEXRAD rainfall values in a 35 mile radius from Maplehurst Farms in Rochelle and is updated hourly. This system was developed as a by-product of agricultural research at Michigan State University. Spatial Rainfall Consulting is headed up by Dr. Bill Northcott who has been an agricultural hydrologist for the last 20 years. He is native of east central Illinois and is an agricultural engineer, an agronomist and a farm owner. Before starting Spatial Rainfall Consulting he was a faculty member in the Biosytems Engineering Department at Michigan State University and served as the State Irrigation and Water Management Engineer for MSU Extension. |
