NOAA Atlas 14 Vol 7
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NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States Volume 7 Version 2.0: Alaska Sanja Perica1, Douglas Kane2, Sarah Dietz1, Kazungu Maitaria1, Deborah Martin1, Sandra Pavlovic1, Ishani Roy1, Svetlana Stuefer2, Amy Tidwell2, Carl Trypaluk1, Dale Unruh1, Michael Yekta1, Erica Betts2, Geoffrey Bonnin1, Sarah Heim1, Lillian Hiner1, Elizabeth Lilly2, Jayashree Narayanan2, Fenglin Yan1, Tan Zhao1 1U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service and 2University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center Silver Spring, Maryland, 2012 NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States Volume 7 Version 2.0: Alaska Sanja Perica1, Douglas Kane2, Sarah Dietz1, Kazungu Maitaria1, Deborah Martin1, Sandra Pavlovic1, Ishani Roy1, Svetlana Stuefer2, Amy Tidwell2,Carl Trypaluk1,Dale Unruh1,Michael Yekta1, Erica Betts2, Geoffrey Bonnin1, Sarah Heim1, Lillian Hiner1, Elizabeth Lilly2, Jayashree Narayanan2, Fenglin Yan1, Tan Zhao1 1U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service and 2University of Alaska Fairbanks, Water and Environmental Research Center Silver Spring, Maryland, 2012 Library of Congress Classification Number G1046 .C8 U6 no.14 v.7 (2012) Table of Contents 1. Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 1 2. Preface to Volume 7 .......................................................................................................... 1 3. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 3 3.1. Objective ............................................................................................................... 3 3.2. Approach and deliverables .................................................................................... 3 4. Frequency analysis ............................................................................................................ 5 4.1. Project area ............................................................................................................ 5 4.2. Precipitation data collection and formatting ......................................................... 7 4.3. Annual maximum series extraction ....................................................................... 9 4.4. Station screening ................................................................................................. 11 4.5. AMS screening and quality control ..................................................................... 16 4.5.1. Outliers .................................................................................................... 16 4.5.2. Correction for constrained observations ................................................. 17 4.5.3. Bias correction for precipitation undercatch ........................................... 17 4.5.4. Inconsistencies across durations ............................................................. 17 4.5.5. Trend analysis ......................................................................................... 18 4.6. Precipitation frequency estimates with confidence limits at stations .................. 18 4.6.1. Overview of methodology and related terminology................................ 18 4.6.2. Regionalization ....................................................................................... 20 4.6.3. AMS-based estimates .............................................................................. 23 4.6.4. PDS-based estimates ............................................................................... 25 4.6.5. Confidence limits .................................................................................... 25 4.7. Rainfall frequency estimates with confidence limits at stations ......................... 26 4.7.1. Background ............................................................................................. 26 4.7.2. Extraction of rainfall data........................................................................ 26 4.7.3. Rainfall frequency estimation ................................................................. 27 4.8. Derivation of grids .............................................................................................. 28 4.8.1. Mean annual maximum precipitation ...................................................... 28 4.8.2. Precipitation frequency estimates with confidence limits ....................... 29 5. Precipitation Frequency Data Server .............................................................................. 32 6. Peer review ...................................................................................................................... 33 7. Comparison with previous NOAA publications ............................................................. 33 Acknowledgements ............................................................................... acknowledgements-1 A.1 List of stations used to prepare precipitation frequency estimates .......................... A.1-1 A.2 Bias correction report .............................................................................................. A.2-1 A.3 Annual maximum series trend analysis ................................................................... A.3-1 A.4 Regional L-moment ratios ....................................................................................... A.4-1 A.5 PRISM report .......................................................................................................... A.5-1 A.6 Peer review comments and responses ..................................................................... A.6-1 A.7 Temporal distributions of heavy precipitation ........................................................ A.7-1 A.8 Seasonality .............................................................................................................. A.8-1 Glossary ............................................................................................................. glossary-1 References .......................................................................................................... references-1 NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 7 Version 2.0 1. Abstract NOAA Atlas 14 contains precipitation frequency estimates for the United States and U.S. affiliated territories with associated 90% confidence intervals and supplementary information on temporal distribution of heavy precipitation, analysis of seasonality and trends in annual maximum series data, etc. It includes pertinent information on development methodologies and intermediate results. The results are published through the Precipitation Frequency Data Server (http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds). The Atlas is divided into volumes based on geographic sections of the country. The Atlas is intended as the U.S. Government source of precipitation frequency estimates and associated information for the United States and U.S. affiliated territories. 2. Preface to Volume 7 NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 7 contains precipitation frequency estimates for selected durations and frequencies with 90% confidence intervals and supplementary information on temporal distribution of heavy precipitation , analysis of seasonality and trends in annual maximum series data, etc., for the state of Alaska. The results are published through the Precipitation Frequency Data Server (PFDS) (http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds). This project was a collaborative effort between the Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center within the Office of Hydrologic Development of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service and the Water and Environmental Research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Any use of trade names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Citation and version history. This documentation and associated artifacts such as maps, grids, and point-and-click results from the PFDS are part of a whole with a single version number and can be referenced as: Sanja Perica, Douglas Kane, Sarah Dietz, Kazungu Maitaria, Deborah Martin, Sandra Pavlovic, Ishani Roy, Svetlana Stuefer, Amy Tidwell, Carl Trypaluk, Dale Unruh, Michael Yekta, Erica Betts, Geoffrey Bonnin, Sarah Heim, Lillian Hiner, Elizabeth Lilly, Jayashree Narayanan, Fenglin Yan, Tan Zhao (2012). NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 7 Version 2.0, Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States, Alaska. NOAA, National Weather Service, Silver Spring, MD. The version number has the format P.S where P is a primary version number representing a number of successive releases of primary information. Primary information is essentially the data. S is a secondary version number representing successive releases of secondary information. Secondary information includes documentation and metadata. S reverts to zero (or nothing; i.e., Version 2 and Version 2.0 are equivalent) when P is incremented. When new information is completed and added (such as draft documentation) without changing any prior information, the version number is not incremented. The primary version number is stamped on the artifact or is included as part of the filename where the format does not allow for a version stamp (for example, files with gridded precipitation frequency estimates). All location-specific output from the PFDS is stamped with the version number and date of download. Table 2.1 lists the