Accounting for precipitation asymmetry in a multiplicative random cascade disaggregation model

Abstract. Analytical multiplicative random cascades (MRCs) are widely used for the temporal disaggregation of coarse-resolution precipitation time series. This class of models applies scaling models to represent the dependence of the cascade generator on the temporal scale and the precipitation intensity. Although determinant, the dependence on the external precipitation pattern is usually disregarded in the analytical scaling models. Our work presents a unified MRC modelling framework that allows the cascade generator to depend in a continuous way on the temporal scale, precipitation intensity and a so-called precipitation asymmetry index. Different MRC configurations are compared for 81 locations in Switzerland with contrasted climates. The added value of the dependence of the MRC on the temporal scale appears to be unclear, unlike what was suggested in previous works. Introducing the precipitation asymmetry dependence into the model leads to a drastic improvement in model performance for all statistics related to precipitation temporal persistence (wet–dry transition probabilities, lag-n autocorrelation coefficients, lengths of dry–wet spells). Accounting for precipitation asymmetry seems to solve this important limitation of previous MRCs. The model configuration that only accounts for the dependence on precipitation intensity and asymmetry is highly parsimonious, with only five parameters, and provides adequate performances for all locations, seasons and temporal resolutions. The spatial coherency of the parameter estimates indicates a real potential for regionalisation and for further application to any location in Switzerland.