Abstract
The performance evaluation of satellite-based precipitation products at local and regional scales is crucial for modification in satellite-based precipitation retrieval algorithms, as well as for the provision of guidance during the selection of substitute precipitation data. This study evaluated the performances of three Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) products (3B42V6, 3B42RT and 3B42V7) with a reference to rain gauge observations in the Hunza River basin, northern Pakistan. Multi-spatial (pixel and basin) and temporal (daily, monthly, seasonal and annual) resolutions were considered for performance evaluation of TMPA products. Results revealed that the spatial pattern of observed precipitation over the basin was adequately captured by 3B42V7 but misplaced by 3B42V6 and 3B42RT. All TMPA products were unable to capture the intense precipitation events. On the daily time scale, the performance of TMPA products was very poor over both spatial scales. 3B42V6 underestimated the precipitation (31.25% and 44.27% on pixel and basin scales, respectively). By contrast, 3B42RT significantly overestimated the precipitation (47.91% and 38.62% on pixel and basin scales, respectively), while 3B42V7 showed overestimation (17.30%) on pixel scale and slight underestimation (6.24%) on the basin scale. On the seasonal scale, TMPA products showed significant biases with observed precipitation data. We found that the TMPA products performed relatively better on monthly and annual time scales and overall performance of 3B42V7 product was better than that of 3B42V6 and 3B42RT. The bias in 3B42V7 was improved by 85.90% compared with 3B42V6 and by 116.16% compared with 3B42RT. Thus, it is concluded that the TMPA products were unreliable to capture the intense precipitation events and retain high errors on daily and seasonal scales. Therefore, caution should be considered while using these precipitation estimates as a substitute data in hydrology, meteorology and climatology studies in Hunza River basin. However, due to the reasonable performance of monthly and annual 3B42V7 estimates, these can be used as an acceptable substitute for applications in the region.
Highlights
Precipitation is an important parameter of the hydrological cycle and is one of the main sources of water supplies for agriculture, humans, and wildlife to sustain life
The rain gauge stations in the Hunza River basins situated in northern Pakistan are very few and sparse
Robust quality evaluation is necessary before the direct utilization of these products for different hydro-meteorological applications
Summary
Precipitation is an important parameter of the hydrological cycle and is one of the main sources of water supplies for agriculture, humans, and wildlife to sustain life. Several high-resolution satellite-based precipitation products have been operationally available to provide the precipitation information for different hydro-climatological applications. Among these precipitation products, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) products developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), are widely used to monitor the precipitation over tropical and subtropical regions. The post real time products (3B42V6 and 3B42V7) are generated by combining 3B42RT estimates with the precipitation estimates from the Climate Assessment and Monitoring System (CAMS, only for 3B42V6 product), Global Precipitation Climatology Center (GPCC), TRMM Precipitation Radar, and TMI [4]
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