Hydrological appraisal of rainfall estimates from radar, satellite, raingauge and satellite–gauge combination on the Qinhuai River Basin, China

Abstract

ABSTRACTMultisource rainfall products can be used to overcome the absence of gauged precipitation data for hydrological applications. This study aims to evaluate rainfall estimates from the Chinese S-band weather radar (CINRAD-SA), operational raingauges, multiple satellites (CMORPH, ERA-Interim, GPM, TRMM-3B42RT) and the merged satellite–gauge rainfall products, CMORPH-GC, as inputs to a calibrated probability distribution model (PDM) on the Qinhuai River Basin in Nanjing, China. The Qinhuai is a middle-sized catchment with an area of 799 km2. All sources used in this study are capable of recording rainfall at high spatial and temporal resolution (3 h). The discrepancies between satellite and radar data are analysed by statistical comparison with raingauge data. The streamflow simulation results from three flood events suggest that rainfall estimates using CMORPH-GC, TRMM-3B42RT and S-band radar are more accurate than those using the other rainfall sources. These findings indicate the potential to use satellite and radar data as alternatives to raingauge data in hydrological applications for ungauged or poorly gauged basins.