Abstract
The aim of this study is to assess the performance of various global precipitation products for water resources application in the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Three precipitation products of gauge-adjusted (corrected) CMORPH, (TRMM) TMPA 3B42v7 and ECMWF reanalysis products are evaluated. A Coupled Routing and Excess Storage (CREST) distributed hydrological model is calibrated and used for the evaluation. The model is calibrated for 2000–2005 and validated for 2006–2011 periods using daily observed rainfall and discharge datasets. The results indicate the precipitation products consistently provide a better performance of runoff estimation when they are independently calibrated than simulation modes of the products. We conclude as long as each product is calibrated independently, global precipitation products can provide enough information for water resource management in data-scarce regions of upper Blue Nile Basin. Further analysis is underway to understand the response characteristics of the precipitation products at larger spatio-temporal scales.
Highlights
Water resource applications in regions without good quality and reliable temporal rainfall data are complicated by a lack of adequate spatial coverage
An African Climate Policy center (ACPC) assessment report [1] indicates while the spatial coverage of African climate stations is in the order of 1 station per 27,347 km2, it is 1 station per 1244 km2 in Germany
This research aims to evaluate the performance of various satellite and reanalysis global precipitation datasets for water resource application in the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia, using the Coupled Routing and Excess Storage (CREST) fully distributed hydrological model for multi-year and recent observed data from 2000 to 2011
Summary
Water resource applications in regions without good quality and reliable temporal rainfall data are complicated by a lack of adequate spatial coverage. In many African countries, the spatial coverage of hydrometeorological stations is very low. An African Climate Policy center (ACPC) assessment report [1] indicates while the spatial coverage of African climate stations is in the order of 1 station per 27,347 km , it is 1 station per 1244 km in Germany. The coverage of the stream flow stations in Africa is very low. There are 888 gauging stations in Africa in an area of. The situation in Ethiopia and upper Blue Nile is not different from this global picture. This contrasting revelation indicates the importance of supplementing the continent’s hydro-information system with remotely sensed satellite and reanalysis products
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