Evaluation of Version-7 TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis Product during the Beijing Extreme Heavy Rainfall Event of 21 July 2012

Yong Huang,Sheng Chen,Sheng Chen,Sheng Chen,Xiuqin Yang,Mengyu Huang,Yang Hong,Yang Hong,Yang Hong,Biwen Wu,Qing Cao,Qing Cao,Zhe Li,Zengxin Zhang,Weiyue Li,Lei Qiao

doi:10.3390/w6010032

Abstract

The latest Version-7 (V7) Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) products were released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in December of 2012. Their performance on different climatology, locations, and precipitation types is of great interest to the satellite-based precipitation community. This paper presents a study of TMPA precipitation products (3B42RT and 3B42V7) for an extreme precipitation event in Beijing and its adjacent regions (from 00:00 UTC 21 July 2012 to 00:00 UTC 22 July 2012). Measurements from a dense rain gauge network were used as the ground truth to evaluate the latest TMPA products. Results are summarized as follows. Compared to rain gauge measurements, both 3B42RT and 3B42V7 generally captured the rainfall spatial and temporal pattern, having a moderate spatial correlation coefficient (CC, 0.6) and high CC values (0.88) over the broader Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin (HBT) regions, but the rainfall peak is 6 h ahead of gauge observations. Overall, 3B42RT showed higher estimation than 3B42V7 over both HBT and Beijing. At the storm center, both 3B42RT and 3B42V7 presented a relatively large deviation from the temporal variation of rainfall and underestimated the storm by 29.02% and 36.07%, respectively. The current study suggests that the latest TMPA products still have limitations in terms of resolution and accuracy, especially for this type of extreme event within a latitude area on the edge of coverage of TRMM precipitation radar and microwave imager. Therefore, TMPA users should be cautious when 3B42RT and 3B42V7 are used to model, monitor, and forecast both flooding hazards in the Beijing urban area and landslides in the mountainous west and north of Beijing.

Highlights

Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan in August 2009 [1,2,3], severe floods in Pakistan in 2010 [4] and in Beijing in July 2012 [5,6], and Hurricane Sandy [7] in northeast U.S in October 2012 have shown that the precipitation system tends to develop into heavier storms with a longer dry period between two precipitation events [8]
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the latest TMPA products with a relatively dense rain gauge network in Beijing and adjacent regions for the extreme precipitation event on 21 July 2012
The findings reveal the performance of the latest TMPA products in an extreme event and will guide the application of TMPA products for a hydrological model

Summary

Introduction

Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan in August 2009 [1,2,3], severe floods in Pakistan in 2010 [4] and in Beijing in July 2012 [5,6], and Hurricane Sandy [7] in northeast U.S in October 2012 have shown that the precipitation system tends to develop into heavier storms with a longer dry period between two precipitation events [8]. On 21 July 2012, a 60-year return period extreme storm hit Beijing and adjacent regions, triggering flash floods in the urban area and landslides in the mountainous region. The storm-triggered flood affected areas of 16,000 km and concerned more than 1.6 million people, inundated many infrastructures like roads with trapped cars and buses, bridges, and collapsed buildings in the deep water [9,10]. This extreme event was attributed to a frontal system and mid-tropospheric disturbance [6], and it was generated by a linear-shaped mesoscale convective system (MCS) [9]. Sang and Liu [5]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion