Current role of grasslands in development of agriculture and rural areas in Poland - an example of mountain voivodships małopolskie and podkarpackie

Weather radar technology offers a unique means for hydrological applications characterizing precipitation patterns with high space-time resolutions. In this paper rain gauge and weather radar data are applied simultaneously to improve the knowledge of seasonal and annual amount of precipitation in a protected wetland catchment in central Poland. Analysis of precipitation patterns in years 2004–2008 has demonstrated that significant improvement in the accuracy of precipitation estimation at a catchment scale can be achieved when applying radar data. Two slightly different zones have been detected within the catchment, regarding its annual and seasonal precipitation characteristics. Analysis has proved that the west part of the catchment is recharged by relatively lower precipitation in comparison to the east part situated in the vicinity of Warsaw agglomeration. Spatial differences in precipitation recharging subsurface water resources have revealed the reduced precipitation in wetland areas which are of special environmental importance. Recommendation refers to the use of high resolution rainfall data responding to the demand for better hydrological process understanding. Described technique, apart from purely hydrologic applications, may be used to identify the subsurface recharge in the areas of high environmental concern for solving water management problems.