Meteorological Network Expansion Using Information Decay Concept

Open Access

Abstract

A generalized network design methodology was developed by using the basic entropy concept introduced by Shannon in communication engineering. In order to select potential sites for meteorological network expansion purposes, the meteorological variabilities were assessed by interpolating meteorological information at various gauged and ungauged locations. To obtain a better understanding of the meteorological variabilities in border areas and in coastal regions, a comprehensive data base was developed by including bordering meteorological stations from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Somali, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, North Yemen and South Yemen. The meteorological data for these countries were obtained for a period of nine years (1970–78). For computational convenience, the study area was divided into three subregions. The concurrent observations for all selected stations in each subregion were obtained by processing the daily meteorological records. Each subregion was divided into feasible triplets by joining the stations. Each triplet was treated as a subgroup. The information was interpolated at various points in line segments forming triplets using the processed concurrent observations for each subregion. In order to identify low and high information zones, the information contours were drawn using data on temperature, pressure, wind speed, horizontal visibility and sky cover. The nearest cities or towns falling within the contours showing low information were identified and 26 additional station sites were selected for network intensification purposes.

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