Network design for the estimation of areal mean of rainfall events

This work recognizes rainfall as a multidimensional stochastic process. By using the knowledge of such processes and of multivariate estimation theory a procedure for designing an optimal network to obtain the areal mean precipitation of an event over a fixed area is developed. The methodology used in this problem allows consideration of the following aspects of network design: (1) spatial uncertainty and correlation of process, (2) errors in measurement techniques and their correlation, and (3) non‐homogeneous sampling costs. Optimal networks are given in terms of the number and location of stations together with the resulting cost and mean square error of rainfall estimation.