scholarly journals A Downscaling–Merging Scheme for Improving Daily Spatial Precipitation Estimates Based on Random Forest and Cokriging

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2040
Author(s):  
Xin Yan ◽  
Hua Chen ◽  
Bingru Tian ◽  
Sheng Sheng ◽  
Jinxing Wang ◽  
...  

High-spatial-resolution precipitation data are of great significance in many applications, such as ecology, hydrology, and meteorology. Acquiring high-precision and high-resolution precipitation data in a large area is still a great challenge. In this study, a downscaling–merging scheme based on random forest and cokriging is presented to solve this problem. First, the enhanced decision tree model, which is based on random forest from machine learning algorithms, is used to reduce the spatial resolution of satellite daily precipitation data to 0.01°. The downscaled satellite-based daily precipitation is then merged with gauge observations using the cokriging method. The scheme is applied to downscale the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) daily precipitation product over the upstream part of the Hanjiang Basin. The experimental results indicate that (1) the downscaling model based on random forest can correctly spatially downscale the GPM daily precipitation data, which retains the accuracy of the original GPM data and greatly improves their spatial details; (2) the GPM precipitation data can be downscaled on the seasonal scale; and (3) the merging method based on cokriging greatly improves the accuracy of the downscaled GPM daily precipitation data. This study provides an efficient scheme for generating high-resolution and high-quality daily precipitation data in a large area.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawyer Reid stippa ◽  
George Petropoulos ◽  
Leonidas Toulios ◽  
Prashant K. Srivastava

Archaeological site mapping is important for both understanding the history as well as protecting them from excavation during the developmental activities. As archaeological sites generally spread over a large area, use of high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery is becoming increasingly applicable in the world. The main objective of this study was to map the land cover of the Itanos area of Crete and of its changes, with specific focus on the detection of the landscape’s archaeological features. Six satellite images were acquired from the Pleiades and WorldView-2 satellites over a period of 3 years. In addition, digital photography of two known archaeological sites was used for validation. An Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) classification was subsequently developed using the five acquired satellite images. Two rule-sets were created, one using the standard four bands which both satellites have and another for the two WorldView-2 images their four extra bands included. Validation of the thematic maps produced from the classification scenarios confirmed a difference in accuracy amongst the five images. Comparing the results of a 4-band rule-set versus the 8-band showed a slight increase in classification accuracy using extra bands. The resultant classifications showed a good level of accuracy exceeding 70%. Yet, separating the archaeological sites from the open spaces with little or no vegetation proved challenging. This was mainly due to the high spectral similarity between rocks and the archaeological ruins. The satellite data spatial resolution allowed for the accuracy in defining larger archaeological sites, but still was a difficulty in distinguishing smaller areas of interest. The digital photography data provided a very good 3D representation for the archaeological sites, assisting as well in validating the satellite-derived classification maps. All in all, our study provided further evidence that use of high resolution imagery may allow for archaeological sites to be located, but only where they are of a suitable size archaeological features.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.30) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zun Liang Chuan ◽  
Azlyna Senawi ◽  
Wan Nur Syahidah Wan Yusoff ◽  
Noriszura Ismail ◽  
Tan Lit Ken ◽  
...  

The grassroots of the presence of missing precipitation data are due to the malfunction of instruments, error of recording and meteorological extremes. Consequently, an effective imputation algorithm is indeed much needed to provide a high quality complete time series in assessing the risk of occurrence of extreme precipitation tragedy. In order to overcome this issue, this study desired to investigate the effectiveness of various Q-components of the Bayesian Principal Component Analysis model associates with Variational Bayes algorithm (BPCAQ-VB) in missing daily precipitation data treatment, which the ideal number of Q-components is identified by using The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) algorithm. The effectiveness of BPCAQ-VB algorithm in missing daily precipitation data treatment is evaluated by using four distinct precipitation time series, including two monitoring stations located in inland and coastal regions of Kuantan district, respectively. The analysis results rendered the BPCA5-VB is superior in missing daily precipitation data treatment for the coastal region time series compared to the single imputation algorithms proposed in previous studies. Contrarily, the single imputation algorithm is superior in missing daily precipitation data treatment for an inland region time series rather than the BPCAQ-VB algorithm.   


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 578-592
Author(s):  
Héctor Aguilera ◽  
Carolina Guardiola-Albert ◽  
Carmen Serrano-Hidalgo

Abstract Accurate estimation of missing daily precipitation data remains a difficult task. A wide variety of methods exists for infilling missing values, but the percentage of gaps is one of the main factors limiting their applicability. The present study compares three techniques for filling in large amounts of missing daily precipitation data: spatio-temporal kriging (STK), multiple imputation by chained equations through predictive mean matching (PMM), and the random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm. To our knowledge, this is the first time that extreme missingness (>90%) has been considered. Different percentages of missing data and missing patterns are tested in a large dataset drawn from 112 rain gauges in the period 1975–2017. The results show that both STK and RF can handle extreme missingness, while PMM requires larger observed sample sizes. STK is the most robust method, suitable for chronological missing patterns. RF is efficient under random missing patterns. Model evaluation is usually based on performance and error measures. However, this study outlines the risk of just relying on these measures without checking for consistency. The RF algorithm overestimated daily precipitation outside the validation period in some cases due to the overdetection of rainy days under time-dependent missing patterns.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (19) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Daqing Yang ◽  
Douglas Kane ◽  
Zhongping Zhang ◽  
David Legates ◽  
Barry Goodison

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas J. Rupp ◽  
Barbara A. Bailey ◽  
Samuel S.P. Shen ◽  
Christine K. Lee ◽  
B. Scott Strachan

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