Abstract
This study evaluated the performance of the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) version 5 (V05) Early-run and Final-run (IMERG-E and IMERG-F, respectively) products over the Tianshan Mountains. For comparison, the accuracies of two Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) products (3B42RT and 3B42V7) were also analyzed. Performance of the satellite-based precipitation products (SPPs) was analyzed at daily to annual scales from April 2014 to October 2017. Results showed that: (1) IMERG-F and 3B42V7 performed better than IMERG-E and 3B42RT in the characterization of spatiotemporal variability of precipitation; (2) Precipitation estimates from IMERG-F were in the best overall agreement with the gauge-based data, followed by IMERG-E and 3B42V7 on all temporal scales; (3) IMERG-E and 3B42RT products were failed to provide accurate precipitation amounts, whereas IMERG-F and 3B42V7 were able to provide accurate precipitation estimates with the lowest relative biases (4.98% and −1.71%, respectively) and RMSE (0.58 mm/day and 0.76 mm/day, respectively); (4) The enhancement from the IMERG Early-run to the Final-run to capture the moderate to heavy precipitation events was not evident; (5) On seasonal scale, IMEGR-F performed better than all other SPPs, particularly during the spring season with negligible bias (0.28%). It was deduced that IMERG-F was capable of replacing TRMM products.
Highlights
Precipitation is a well-known physical phenomenon that has vast influences on water availability, glacier mass balance, environment, ecosystem, crop yield, and our livelihoods
We have investigated the errors and uncertainties associated with the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG)-V05 near real-time (IMERG Early-run) and post real-time (IMERG Final-run) precipitation products with reference to the precipitation observations obtained from the in situ rain gauges and two TMPA (near real-time (3B42RT) and post real-time (3B42V7)) precipitation products over the Tianshan Mountains in northwestern China
To compare the spatial patterns of error characteristics of satellite-based precipitation products (SPPs) in the entire study domain, the maps of spatial distribution of errors associated with four SPPs were and their corresponding grids of IMERG-E, IMERG-F, 3B42V7, and 3B42RT products were selected only, whereas the grids of SPPs without any gauging station were omitted from the investigation, by following Palomino-Ángel et al [42]
Summary
Precipitation is a well-known physical phenomenon that has vast influences on water availability, glacier mass balance, environment, ecosystem, crop yield, and our livelihoods. In developing countries and in physically inaccessible regions of the world, these ground-based meteorological instruments are often sparse or unavailable, leading to the poor representation of spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation [2,3,4]. In such regions, satellite-based precipitation products (SPPs) could provide uninterrupted information on occurrence, distribution and amount of precipitation at fine spatiotemporal resolutions [5,6,7] and, could be employed for climatological, hydrological, meteorological, and cryospheric studies [8,9,10,11].
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