Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?

Abstract This study conducted evaluation and analysis on various precipitation products over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP), including four sets of satellite precipitation data (i.e., IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, GSMaP_MVK, GSMaP_Gauge) and one set of model reanalysis data (i.e., ERA5‐land, hereafter...

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Main Authors: Yuqiao Feng, Youcun Qi, Zhanfeng Zhao, Donghuan Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-11-01
Series:Water Resources Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037381
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author Yuqiao Feng
Youcun Qi
Zhanfeng Zhao
Donghuan Li
author_facet Yuqiao Feng
Youcun Qi
Zhanfeng Zhao
Donghuan Li
author_sort Yuqiao Feng
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This study conducted evaluation and analysis on various precipitation products over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP), including four sets of satellite precipitation data (i.e., IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, GSMaP_MVK, GSMaP_Gauge) and one set of model reanalysis data (i.e., ERA5‐land, hereafter ERA5‐L). We evaluated the spatial‐temporal distribution of their quality at an hourly temporal scale and 0.1° spatial scale, with a special focus on capturing different types of precipitation. The results show that: (a) GSMaP_Gauge exhibits the highest correlation with ground‐based gauges, while IMERG_Uncal and IMERG_Cal perform best in the estimation of the amount of precipitation. Satellite products generally perform better during summer while ERA5‐L sometimes outperforms satellite products in spring and autumn. (b) The evaluation results for different precipitation types reveal that all the QPE products face significant challenges in accurately describing convective precipitation. They tend to underestimate convective precipitation and fail to properly capture the intensity and location of heavy precipitation. (c) In heavy convective precipitation cases, the evaluated QPE products show various issues in accurately capturing the intensity and spatiotemporal variation of precipitation. Almost all QPE products underestimate maximum precipitation (both hourly precipitation and accumulated precipitation) and small‐scale (about 50 km or less) spatial variability of precipitation. IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, and GSMaP_MVK perform better than other products in heavy convective precipitation cases. This study provides new insights into the quality of QPE products in different types of precipitation. The analysis of the quality of these QPE products serves as a valuable indicator of their potential applications, particularly in flash flood simulations, while also underscoring the critical need for improving precipitation product quality.
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spelling doaj-art-50bb02f4c227464b97830e60b644e63d2025-08-23T13:05:51ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732024-11-016011n/an/a10.1029/2024WR037381Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?Yuqiao Feng0Youcun Qi1Zhanfeng Zhao2Donghuan Li3Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaAbstract This study conducted evaluation and analysis on various precipitation products over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP), including four sets of satellite precipitation data (i.e., IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, GSMaP_MVK, GSMaP_Gauge) and one set of model reanalysis data (i.e., ERA5‐land, hereafter ERA5‐L). We evaluated the spatial‐temporal distribution of their quality at an hourly temporal scale and 0.1° spatial scale, with a special focus on capturing different types of precipitation. The results show that: (a) GSMaP_Gauge exhibits the highest correlation with ground‐based gauges, while IMERG_Uncal and IMERG_Cal perform best in the estimation of the amount of precipitation. Satellite products generally perform better during summer while ERA5‐L sometimes outperforms satellite products in spring and autumn. (b) The evaluation results for different precipitation types reveal that all the QPE products face significant challenges in accurately describing convective precipitation. They tend to underestimate convective precipitation and fail to properly capture the intensity and location of heavy precipitation. (c) In heavy convective precipitation cases, the evaluated QPE products show various issues in accurately capturing the intensity and spatiotemporal variation of precipitation. Almost all QPE products underestimate maximum precipitation (both hourly precipitation and accumulated precipitation) and small‐scale (about 50 km or less) spatial variability of precipitation. IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, and GSMaP_MVK perform better than other products in heavy convective precipitation cases. This study provides new insights into the quality of QPE products in different types of precipitation. The analysis of the quality of these QPE products serves as a valuable indicator of their potential applications, particularly in flash flood simulations, while also underscoring the critical need for improving precipitation product quality.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037381eastern Tibetan Plateauprecipitation typeQPE productscase based precipitation concentration degree
spellingShingle Yuqiao Feng
Youcun Qi
Zhanfeng Zhao
Donghuan Li
Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
Water Resources Research
eastern Tibetan Plateau
precipitation type
QPE products
case based precipitation concentration degree
title Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
title_full Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
title_fullStr Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
title_full_unstemmed Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
title_short Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?
title_sort can satellite or reanalysis precipitation products depict the location and intensity of rainfall at flash flood scale over the eastern mountainous area of the tibetan plateau
topic eastern Tibetan Plateau
precipitation type
QPE products
case based precipitation concentration degree
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037381
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