Abstract
Highly accurate and real-time estimation of precipitation over large areas remains a fundamental challenge for the hydrological and meteorological community. This is primarily attributed to the high heterogeneity of precipitation across temporal and spatial scales. Rapid developments in remote sensing technologies have made the quantitative measurement of precipitation by satellite sensors a significant data source. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission makes precipitation data with high temporal and spatial resolutions available to different users. The objective of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) V06 (Early, Late, and Final) satellite precipitation products (SPPs) at high latitudes. Ground-based observation data across Finland were used as a reference and compared with IMERG data from 2014 to 2019. Three aspects were evaluated: the spatial coverage of the satellite estimates over Finland; the accuracy of the satellite estimates at various temporal scales (half-hourly, daily, and monthly); and the variation in the performance of SPPs over different spatial regions. The results showed that IMERG SPPs can be used with high confidence over Southern, Eastern, and Western Finland. These SPPs can be used with caution over the region of the historical province of Oulu but are not recommended for higher latitudes over Lapland. In general, the IMERG-Final SPP performed the best, and it is recommended for use because of its low number of errors and high correlation with ground observation. Furthermore, this SPP can be used to complement or substitute ground precipitation measurements in ungauged and poorly gauged regions in Southern Finland.
Highlights
Precipitation is a critical component in ensuring a water balance and is a vital element of the hydrological cycle
satellite precipitation products (SPPs) compared to ground observations of consistency, and errors associated with the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) SPPs compared to ground observations
This study investigated the spatial coverage of IMERG SPPs over high-latitude regions of Finland
Summary
Precipitation is a critical component in ensuring a water balance and is a vital element of the hydrological cycle. It is the key factor in the analysis of hydrological processes [1,2]. Obtaining continuous and reliable ground observations with sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions is challenging because of the operational and maintenance costs [3]. Estimating precipitation over large areas in real-time remains a fundamental challenge for the hydrological and meteorological community owing to the high heterogeneity of precipitation across temporal and spatial scales [4,5,6]. The two main sources of reliable precipitation data are ground-based measurements using rain gauges and radar observations [7]. Rain gauges directly measure precipitation at any given point; they
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