A comprehensive five-year evaluation of IMERG Late Run precipitation estimates over the Netherlands

Author(s):  
Linda Bogerd ◽  
Aart Overeem ◽  
Hidde Leijnse ◽  
Remko Uijlenhoet

AbstractApplications like drought monitoring and forecasting can profit from the global and near real-time availability of satellite-based precipitation estimates once their related uncertainties and challenges are identified and treated. To this end, this study evaluates the IMERG V06B Late Run precipitation product from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM), a multi-satellite product that combines space-based radar, passive microwave (PMW), and infrared (IR) data into gridded precipitation estimates. The evaluation is performed on the spatiotemporal resolution of IMERG (0.1° × 0.1°, 30 min) over the Netherlands over a five-year period. A gauge-adjusted radar precipitation product from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) is used as reference, against which IMERG shows a large positive bias. To find the origin of this systematic overestimation, the data is divided into seasons, rainfall intensity ranges, echo top height (ETH) ranges, and categories based on the relative contributions of IR, morphing, and PMW data to the IMERG estimates. Furthermore, the specific radiometer is identified for each PMW-based estimate. IMERG’s detection performance improves with higher ETH and rainfall intensity, but the associated error and relative bias increase as well. Severe overestimation occurs during low-intensity rainfall events and is especially linked to PMW observations. All individual PMW instruments show the same pattern: overestimation of low-intensity events and underestimation of high-intensity events. IMERG misses a large fraction of shallow rainfall events, which is amplified when IR data is included. Space-based retrieval of shallow and low-intensity precipitation events should improve before IMERG can be implemented over the middle and high-latitudes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Bogerd ◽  
Hidde Leijnse ◽  
Aart Overeem ◽  
Remko Uijlenhoet

<p>The Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) is one of the recent efforts to provide satellite-based global precipitation estimates. The GPM Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) converts microwave radiation measured by passive microwave (PMW) sensors onboard constellation satellites into precipitation. Over land, precipitation estimates are obtained from high frequency PMW-channels that measure the radiance scattered by ice particles in rain clouds. However, due to the limited scattering related to shallow and light precipitation, it is challenging to distinguish these signals from background radiation that is naturally emitted from the Earth’s surface.</p><p>Increased understanding of the physical processes during precipitation events can be used to improve PMW-based precipitation retrievals. This study couples overpasses of GPM radiometers over the Netherlands to two dual-polarization radars from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). The Netherlands is an ideal setting for this study due to the availability of high-quality ground-based measurements, the frequent occurrence of shallow events, the absence of ground-clutter related to mountains, and the varying background emission related to its coastal location.</p><p>The coupling of overpasses with ground-based precipitation radars provides the opportunity to relate GPROFs performance to physical characteristics of precipitation events, such as the vertical reflectivity profile and dual-polarization information on the melting layer. Furthermore, simultaneous radiometer estimates and space-based reflectivity profiles from the dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) onboard the GPM core satellite are coupled to the ground-based reflectivity profiles for selected case studies. Because the a-priori database implemented in the GPROF algorithm is based on observations from the DPR, the comparison of the reflectivity profiles further unravels discrepancies between GPROF and ground-based estimates.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojtaba Sadeghi ◽  
Phu Nguyen ◽  
Matin Rahnamay Naeini ◽  
Kuolin Hsu ◽  
Dan Braithwaite ◽  
...  

AbstractAccurate long-term global precipitation estimates, especially for heavy precipitation rates, at fine spatial and temporal resolutions is vital for a wide variety of climatological studies. Most of the available operational precipitation estimation datasets provide either high spatial resolution with short-term duration estimates or lower spatial resolution with long-term duration estimates. Furthermore, previous research has stressed that most of the available satellite-based precipitation products show poor performance for capturing extreme events at high temporal resolution. Therefore, there is a need for a precipitation product that reliably detects heavy precipitation rates with fine spatiotemporal resolution and a longer period of record. Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System-Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CCS-CDR) is designed to address these limitations. This dataset provides precipitation estimates at 0.04° spatial and 3-hourly temporal resolutions from 1983 to present over the global domain of 60°S to 60°N. Evaluations of PERSIANN-CCS-CDR and PERSIANN-CDR against gauge and radar observations show the better performance of PERSIANN-CCS-CDR in representing the spatiotemporal resolution, magnitude, and spatial distribution patterns of precipitation, especially for extreme events.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1745
Author(s):  
Jianxin Wang ◽  
Walter A. Petersen ◽  
David B. Wolff

The global precipitation measurement mission (GPM) has been in operation for seven years and continues to provide a vast quantity of global precipitation data at finer temporospatial resolutions with improved accuracy and coverage. GPM’s signature algorithm, the integrated multisatellite retrievals for GPM (IMERG) is a next-generation of precipitation product expected for wide variety of research and operational applications. This study evaluates the latest version (V06B) of IMERG and its predecessor, the tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) multisatellite precipitation (TMPA) 3B42 (V7) using ground-based and gauge-corrected multiradar multisensor system (MRMS) precipitation products over the conterminous United States (CONUS). The spatial distributions of all products are analyzed. The error characteristics are further examined for 3B42 and IMERG in winter and summer by an error decomposition approach, which partitions total bias into hit bias, biases due to missed precipitation and false precipitation. The volumetric and categorical statistical metrics are used to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the two satellite-based products. All products show a similar precipitation climatology with some regional differences. The two satellite-based products perform better in the eastern CONUS than in the mountainous Western CONUS. The evaluation demonstrates the clear improvement in IMERG precipitation product in comparison with its predecessor 3B42, especially in reducing missed precipitation in winter and summer, and hit bias in winter, resulting in better performance in capturing lighter and heavier precipitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2920
Author(s):  
Tingting Huang ◽  
Chenghui Ding ◽  
Weibiao Li ◽  
Yilun Chen

Continuous observations from geostationary satellites can show the morphology of precipitation cloud systems in quasi-real-time, but there are still large deviations in the inversion of precipitation. We used binary-connected area recognition technology to identify meso-β-scale rain clusters over Hainan Island from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2018, based on Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data. We defined and statistically analyzed the parameters of rain clusters to reveal the typical morphological and precipitation characteristics of rain clusters, and to explore the relationship between the parameters and rainfall intensity of rain clusters. We found that the area and long axis of rain clusters over land were larger than those over the ocean, and that continental rain clusters were usually square in shape. Rain clusters with a larger area and longer axis were concentrated on the northern side of the mountains on Hainan Island and the intensity of rain was larger on the northern and eastern sides of the mountains. The variation of continental rain clusters over time was more dramatic than the variation of oceanic clusters. The area and long axis of rain clusters was larger between 14:00 and 21:00 from April to September and the long axis of the oceanic rain clusters increased in winter. There were clear positive correlations between the area, long axis and shape of the rain clusters and the maximum rain rate. The area and long axis of continental rain clusters had a higher correlation with the rain rate than those of oceanic clusters. The establishment of a relationship between the morphology of rain clusters and precipitation helps us to understand the laws of precipitation and improve the prediction of precipitation in this region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Tapiador ◽  
Andrés Navarro ◽  
Eduardo García-Ortega ◽  
Andrés Merino ◽  
José Luis Sánchez ◽  
...  

AbstractAfter 5 years in orbit, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has produced enough quality-controlled data to allow the first validation of their precipitation estimates over Spain. High-quality gauge data from the meteorological network of the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) are used here to validate Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) level 3 estimates of surface precipitation. While aggregated values compare notably well, some differences are found in specific locations. The research investigates the sources of these discrepancies, which are found to be primarily related to the underestimation of orographic precipitation in the IMERG satellite products, as well as to the number of available gauges in the GPCC gauges used for calibrating IMERG. It is shown that IMERG provides suboptimal performance in poorly instrumented areas but that the estimate improves greatly when at least one rain gauge is available for the calibration process. A main, generally applicable conclusion from this research is that the IMERG satellite-derived estimates of precipitation are more useful (r2 > 0.80) for hydrology than interpolated fields of rain gauge measurements when at least one gauge is available for calibrating the satellite product. If no rain gauges were used, the results are still useful but with decreased mean performance (r2 ≈ 0.65). Such figures, however, are greatly improved if no coastal areas are included in the comparison. Removing them is a minor issue in terms of hydrologic impacts, as most rivers in Spain have their sources far from the coast.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrianos Retalis ◽  
Dimitris Katsanos ◽  
Filippos Tymvios ◽  
Silas Michaelides

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) high-resolution product is validated against rain gauges over the island of Cyprus for a three-year period, starting from April 2014. The precipitation estimates are available in both high temporal (half hourly) and spatial (10 km) resolution and combine data from all passive microwave instruments in the GPM constellation. The comparison performed is twofold: first the GPM data are compared with the precipitation measurements on a monthly basis and then the comparison focuses on extreme events, recorded throughout the first 3 years of GPM’s operation. The validation is based on ground data from a dense and reliable network of rain gauges, also available in high temporal (hourly) resolution. The first results show very good correlation regarding monthly values; however, the correspondence of GPM in extreme precipitation varies from “no correlation” to “high correlation”, depending on case. This study aims to verify the GPM rain estimates, since such a high-resolution dataset has numerous applications, including the assimilation in numerical weather prediction models and the study of flash floods with hydrological models.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenglin Xu ◽  
Bin Guo ◽  
Bei Ye ◽  
Qia Ye ◽  
Huining Chen ◽  
...  

Accurate estimation of high-resolution satellite precipitation products like Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is critical for hydrological and meteorological research, providing a benchmark for the continued development and future improvement of these products. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) and TRMM 3B42V7 products at multiple temporal scales from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017 over the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain in China, using daily precipitation data from 59 meteorological stations. Three commonly used statistical metrics (CC, RB, and RMSE) are adopted to quantitatively verify the accuracy of two satellite precipitation products. The assessment also takes into account the precipitation detection capability (POD, FAR, CSI, and ACC) and frequency of different precipitation intensities. The results show that the IMERG and 3B42V7 present strong correlation with meteorological stations observations at annual and monthly scales (CC > 0.90), whereas moderate at the daily scale (CC = 0.76 and 0.69 for IMERG and 3B42V7, respectively). The spatial variability of the annual and seasonal precipitation is well captured by these two satellite products. And spatial patterns of precipitation gradually decrease from south to north over the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. Both IMERG and 3B42V7 products overestimate precipitation compared with the station observations, of which 3B42V7 has a lower degree of overestimation. Relative to the IMERG, annual precipitation estimates from 3B42V7 show lower RMSE (118.96 mm and 142.67 mm, respectively), but opposite at the daily, monthly, and seasonal scales. IMERG has a better precipitation detection capability than 3B42V7 (POD = 0.83 and 0.67, respectively), especially when detecting trace and solid precipitation. The two precipitation products tend to overestimate moderate (2–10 mm/d) and heavy (10–50 mm/d) precipitation events, but underestimate violent (>50 mm/d) precipitation events. The IMERG is not found capable to detecting precipitation events of different frequencies more precisely. In general, the accuracy of IMERG is better than 3B42V7 product in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. The IMERG satellite precipitation product with higher temporal and spatial resolutions can be regarded a reliable data sources in studying hydrological and climatic research.


Author(s):  
Luiz Octavio Fabricio dos Santos ◽  
Carlos Alexandre Santos Querino ◽  
Juliane Kayse Albuquerque da Silva Querino ◽  
Altemar Lopes Pedreira Junior ◽  
Aryanne Resende de Melo Moura ◽  
...  

Rainfall is a meteorological variable of great importance for hydric balance and for weather studies. Rainfall estimation, carried out by satellites, has increased the climatological dataset related to precipitation. However, the accuracy of these data is questionable. This paper aimed to validate the estimates done by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite for the mesoregion of Southern Amazonas State, Brazil. The surface data were collected by the National Water Agency – ANA and National Institute of Meteorology – INMET, and is available at both institutions’ websites. The satellite precipitation data were accessed directly from the NASA webpage. Statistical analysis of Pearson correlation was used, as well as the Willmott’s “d” index and errors from the MAE (Mean Absolute Error) and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error). The GPM satellite satisfactorily estimated the precipitation, once it had correlations above 73% and high Willmott coefficients (between 0.86 and 0.97). The MAE and RMSE showed values that varied from 36.50 mm to 72.49 mm and 13.81 mm to 71.76 mm, respectively. Seasonal rain variations are represented accordingly. In some cases, either an underestimation or an overestimation of the rain data was observed. In the yearly totals, a high rate of similarity between the estimated and measured values was observed. We concluded that the GPM-based multi-satellite precipitation estimates can be used, even though they are not 100% reliable. However, adjustments in calibration for the region are necessary and recommended.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro Salles ◽  
Frédéric Satgé ◽  
Henrique Roig ◽  
Tati Almeida ◽  
Diogo Olivetti ◽  
...  

This study assesses the performance of the new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)-based satellite precipitation estimates (SPEs) datasets in the Brazilian Central Plateau and compares it with the previous Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM)-era datasets. To do so, the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG)-v5 and the Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP)-v7 were evaluated at their original 0.1° spatial resolution and for a 0.25° grid for comparison with TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA). The assessment was made on an annual, monthly, and daily basis for both wet and dry seasons. Overall, IMERG presents the best annual and monthly results. In both time steps, IMERG’s precipitation estimations present bias with lower magnitudes and smaller root-mean-square error. However, GSMaP performs slightly better for the daily time step based on categorical and quantitative statistical analysis. Both IMERG and GSMaP estimates are seasonally influenced, with the highest difficulty in estimating precipitation occurring during the dry season. Additionally, the study indicates that GPM-based SPEs products are capable of continuing TRMM-based precipitation monitoring with similar or even better accuracy than obtained previously with the widely used TMPA product.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 2799-2814 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Rios Gaona ◽  
A. Overeem ◽  
H. Leijnse ◽  
R. Uijlenhoet

Abstract The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is the successor to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), which orbited Earth for ~17 years. With Core Observatory launched on 27 February 2014, GPM offers global precipitation estimates between 60°N and 60°S at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution every 30 min. Unlike during the TRMM era, the Netherlands is now within the coverage provided by GPM. Here the first year of GPM rainfall retrievals from the 30-min gridded Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) product Day 1 Final Run (V03D) is assessed. This product is compared against gauge-adjusted radar rainfall maps over the land surface of the Netherlands at 30-min, 24-h, monthly, and yearly scales. These radar rainfall maps are considered to be ground truth. The evaluation of the first year of IMERG operations is done through time series, scatterplots, empirical exceedance probabilities, and various statistical indicators. In general, there is a tendency for IMERG to slightly underestimate (2%) countrywide rainfall depths. Nevertheless, the relative underestimation is small enough to propose IMERG as a reliable source of precipitation data, especially for areas where rain gauge networks or ground-based radars do not offer these types of high-resolution data and availability. The potential of GPM for rainfall estimation in a midlatitude country is confirmed.


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