Spatial Analysis of Precipitation Climatology Over India: Using Satellite Remote Sensor

Abstract

Precipitation is one of the important components of the global hydrological process. The emerging consequence of global change indicates variations in the precipitation pattern over the Indian region with risks of extreme weather and replacing the normal pattern of precipitation. This changing pattern of precipitation and its accurate estimation is crucial for yield assessment, flood, drought monitoring, and water resources management. These disasters lead to huge devastation of life and property. In this research, a spatial pattern of precipitation climatology and trend has been performed over the Indian subcontinent during 1998–2014. Hourly gridded precipitation data (0.25° × 0.25° spatial resolution) of level 3 product obtained from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B43. A monthly and seasonal analysis was carried out for both climatology and trend. The results show a positive trend in the pre-monsoon season while a negative trend of precipitation is observed in monsoon and post-monsoon season over the maximum portion of the region. Interestingly the maximum precipitation of >1.1 mm/h is observed in May–October, but the maximum deviation of more than 0.5 mm/h is also observed in May, June, July, August, and September months. The results of this study could be used to understand climatology and forecast the precipitation over the Indian region. Thus, the understanding of seasonal precipitation variation provides long-term risk management in various sectors.