Abstract
Consistent precipitation data are essential for hydrological studies and planning of diverse socioeconomic activities. However, the low density of in situ gauges, areas of difficult access and high percentage sampling failures hinder an effective hydrological monitoring in most Brazilian municipalities. The objective of the present study is to compare the performance of precipitation estimates from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) satellites in relation to precipitation data observed on the surface on daily, monthly and seasonal time scales, from 2011 to 2019 in the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Midwest Region of Brazil. Seven statistical indicators were used. In general, the performance of the GPM and GPCP estimates are similar and better than the TRMM estimates on the daily scale. On the monthly and seasonal scales, the GPM estimates stand out from the others. It was possible to verify that all precipitation estimates are more reliable in larger time scales and drier periods. Finally, it is concluded that the precipitation estimates of the GPM, TRMM and GPCP satellites can be an alternative in areas that do not have in situ gauges or need to fill sampling failures. Nevertheless, it is recommended to expand the in situ gauges network in Brazil, mainly in the Midwest Region, in order to allow new spatially and temporally more representative studies.
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Some of the data are publicly available and their references are provided in the manuscript. Other restricted data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with permission of the source department.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Support Foundation for the Development of Education, Science and Technology of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul (FUNDECT) for the granting of the scholarship during the Doctorate, the UFMS and to the Postgraduate Program in Environmental Technologies (PPGTA) for the opportunity for the Doctorate and the HEROS Laboratory and Giovanni portal of NASA for providing precipitation data from surface meteorological stations and satellites, respectively.
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This work is supported by Doctoral scholarship from the FUNDECT for the first author (Public Notice n.19/2019).
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Rafael Brandão Ferreira de Moraes: Writing, theoretical development, statistical analysis and making figures and tables. Fábio Veríssimo Gonçalves: Writing, analysis of results and reviews.
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de Moraes, R.B.F., Gonçalves, F.V. Comparison of the performance of estimated precipitation data via remote sensing in the Midwest Region of Brazil. Theor Appl Climatol 153, 1105–1116 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04523-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04523-z