Headway Group Of Research

Volume 9 Issue 2

Hydrologic Evaluation of Six High Resolution Satellite Precipitation Products in Capturing Extreme Precipitation and Streamflow over a Medium-Sized Basin in China

Shanhu Jiang, Shuya Liu, Liliang Ren, Bin Yong, Linqi Zhang, Menghao Wang, Yujie Lu and Yingqing He

1
State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
2College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
3Nanjing Branch, Huai’an Surveying and Design Institute of Water Resources Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210008, China
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract

Satellite precipitation products (SPPs) are critical data sources for hydrological prediction and extreme event monitoring, especially for ungauged basins. This study conducted a comprehensive hydrological evaluation of six mainstream SPPs (i.e., TMPA 3B42RT, CMORPH-RT, PERSIANN-RT, TMPA 3B42V7, CMORPH-CRT, and PERSIANN-CDR) over humid Xixian basin in central eastern China for a period of 14 years (2000–2013). The evaluation specifically focused on the performance of the six SSPs in capturing precipitation and streamflow extremes. Results show that the two post-real-time research products of TMPA 3B42V7 and CMORPH-CRT exhibit much better performance than that of their corresponding real-time SPPs for precipitation estimation at daily and monthly time scales. By contrast, the newly released post-real-time research product PERSIANN-CDR insignificantly improves precipitation estimates compared with the real-time PERSIANN-RT does at daily time scale. The daily streamflow simulation of TMPA 3B42V7 fits best with the observed streamflow series among those of the six SPPs. The three month-to-month gauge-adjusted post-real-time research products can simulate acceptable monthly runoff series. TMPA 3B42V7 and CMORPH-CRT present good performance in capturing precipitation and streamflow extremes, although they still exhibit non-ignorable deviation and occurrence time inconsistency problems compared with gauge-based results. Caution should be observed when using the current TMPA, CMORPH, and PERSIANN products for monitoring and predicting extreme precipitation and flood at such medium-sized basin. This work will be valuable for the utilization of SPPs in extreme precipitation monitoring, streamflow forecasting, and water resource management in other regions with similar climate and topography characteristics.
Keywords:satellite precipitation product; streamflow simulation; extreme precipitation; extreme streamflow; statistical evaluation
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