Distribution of one-minute rain rate in Malaysia derived from TRMM satellite data

Abstract

Abstract. Total rainfall accumulation, as well as convective and stratiform rainfall rate data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite sensors have been used to derive the thunderstorm ratio and one-minute rainfall rates, R0.01, for 57 stations in Malaysia for exceedance probabilities of 0.001–1% for an average year, for the period 1998–2010. The results of the rain accumulations from the TRMM satellite were validated with the data collected from different ground data sources from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) global summary of the day (1949–2010), Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) (1986–2010), and NASA (1950–1999). The correlation coefficient and the average bias error between TRMM and GPCC for Malaysia were found to be 0.79–0.89 and ±50 mm, respectively. The deduced one-minute rainfall rates correlated fairly well with those obtained from the previous work carried out in Malaysia, with correlation coefficients of 0.7 in all the 57 locations. The inferred mean annual one-minute rainfall rates were found to be highest in the eastern Malaysia, with values between 84.7 and 153.9 mm h−1 for 0.01% exceedance, and in western Malaysia with values between 81.8 and 143.8 mm h−1. The present results will be useful for satellite rain attenuation modeling in tropical and subtropical stations around the world.