Rainfall retrieval with commercial microwave links in Sao Paulo, Brazil

In the last decade there has been a growing interest from the hydrometeorological community regarding rainfall estimation from commercial microwave link (CML) networks. Path-averaged rainfall intensities can be retrieved from the signal attenuation between cell phone towers. Although this technique is still in development, it offers great opportunities for the retrieval of rainfall rates at high spatiotemporal resolutions very close to the Earth's surface. Rainfall measurements at high spatiotemporal resolutions are highly valued in urban hydrology, for instance, given the large impact that flash floods exert on society. Flash floods are triggered by intense rainfall events that develop over short time scales.