MRMS Updates for Multisensor QPE

The Multisensor Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (MSQPE) product within the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system has been operational since October 2020 and is utilized by various end-users, including the National Weather Service (NWS). The product generates a seamless coverage of precipitation through a physically-based approach of blending radar, gauge, environmental, topographical, and climatological data together every hour. While the MSQPE product provides improved precipitation coverage and skill than a radar-only approach, there are still challenges that can be resolved to increase its accuracy and how best to blend between the various precipitation data sources.

Several updates are underway to improve the estimation of precipitation in the MSQPE product via the integration of additional sensors and the testing of new logic. This includes new gauge ingests for the MRMS system (along with a likely reduction of the MRMS Pass1/2 scheme down to a single data generation pass), a revised approach to calculating the Radar Quality Index to improve how radar-derived precipitation coverage is retained in the scheme, and new methods to blend precipitation sources across seasons and different precipitation regimes. The new gauge ingest and MSQPE scheme will be presented along with some initial results, as well as a long-term vision of how multi-sensor approaches in MRMS will utilize new radar networks and future satellite-derived QPEs across all MRMS domains.