Optimization of rain gauge networks—A systematic literature review

Rain gauge is the standard instrument for ground-based precipitation measurements and rain gauge networks play an important role in the monitoring of disasters caused by heavy rainfall, such as flooding and landslides. Many authors have contributed to the research of sophisticated methods and techniques for the design of optimal rain gauge networks, including guidelines for the placement of the devices based on the meteorological and physiographic factors of the study area, however, there is not a consensus on the best procedure to locate these equipment. In fact, there is a rapid growing interest and need for the improvement of monitoring networks and the optimization algorithms and solvers allowed a rapid evolution toward more efficient models. This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of studies on the optimization of rain gauge networks using the PRISMA protocol, detailing the study areas, methods, datasets and models used. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the latest thorough SLR on this subject was published in 2009 by the time of development of the authors’ research, however, the amount of research on this topic has grown significantly since then and optimization techniques have undergone a compelling evolution. Results indicate a wide variety of applications, objectives, methods, models and algorithms aimed at optimizing rain gauge networks. Conclusions are drawn in the light of the opportunities for future research on this topic.