Hi Stuart,
I realize this is a rather old post, but I am working with the daily NWS AHPS Stage III QPE data in shapefile format (pre-March 2017). While I really appreciated your reply (especially helpful in clarifying HRAP meaning), I am still unsure of how to best convert the shapefile points into a raster in ArcGIS based on your reply. I've tried using the "Feature to Raster" GP tool on one shapefile. I get huge grids, something on the order of 33 x 33 km (maybe that's appropriate?).
Focusing on option 3, I'm trying to understand what you mean by "set the cell size against the full range of the AHPS HRAP data set" using the "nws_precip_allpoint_tar" shapefile. How can a vector file have a cell size? Are you just referring to setting the extent of the vector to raster conversion tools in the Environment settings to the allpoint shapefile? Or, is it the cell size taken from the allpoint that's been converted to a raster? If so, do you just use the Feature to Raster Tool and leave the default cell size? Otherwise, re-projection of raster and intersection with vector data seems straightforward. I'm just confused on the best way to convert these shapfiles in a rather obscure projection to a raster useful in analysis. Thanks!!
- Josh