Time variability of rainfall rates in Spain

Large amount of raingauge records collected in meteorological stations located in every region of Spain have been analyzed in order to elaborate a rain climatic map of Iberia. Additional statistics, such as the ones required to investigate the time variability of rain rates, have also been obtained taking advantage of the availability of the required data. The results of this study can be applied for the design of land and satellite microwave systems, especially for business communications (VSAT systems) where it is useful to predict the duration of events related to the time of day or the time of year. Moreover, these are usually low margin systems, so that even low intensity events must be taken into account in order to obtain statistics suitable to be applied for their design. The results obtained are closely related to the climatic characteristics of each region.