Spatial correlation of rainfall over Europe investigated through statistical dependence index

The spatial correlation of rainfall over Europe is investigated. A full year of 1 km × 1 km composite rain maps, collected by the British NIMROD weather radar network over an area as wide as 1000 km × 600 km, is used to calculate the rain rate statistical dependence index χ for separation distances D up to 1000 km. The average trend of χ with distance derived from NIMROD rain maps is compared with the findings obtained from rainfall data collected in Italy and Spain in previous work, with the aim of extending the assessment of the rainfall spatial correlation to continental scale. Results indicate that the average decorrelation trend of χ tends to be similar throughout Europe.