Geostatistical methods for hourly radar-gauge combination: An explorative, systematic application at MeteoSwiss

Gridded quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) of high spatial and temporal resolution are increasingly required, for instance for hydrological flood forecasting and nowcasting. The combination of observations from both remote-sensing radar data and in-situ rain-gauge measurements is a popular means to produce QPEs. The idea is to incorporate into a common scheme their high spatial resolution and good local accuracy, respectively. Geostatistics provides a frequently used stochastic framework for such a combined radar-gauge gridding.