Satellite Rainfall Estimation: The Role of Integrated (Hydrologic) Validation
Abstract
As satellites enable high space-time resolution global mapping of precipitation in near real time, the demand for space-based products is ever increasing. So is the range of applications that include warnings against rainfall-induced hazards as well as resources monitoring. All these activities require some level of validation. In many places, where there is no alternative to satellite products, a simple naïve validation is sufficient. The users decide if the product helps them fulfill their responsibility. A more rigorous validation (evaluation) of the products is possible where an independent reference exists. If the focus is on flood prediction, the reference may include streamflow observations and hydrologic rainfall-runoff models. A key evaluation issue is satellite product uncertainty and performance characterization across scales and within a hydrologic context. The author demonstrates that simple examination of hydrograph at the outlet of a basin can be misleading. Using data collected during the Iowa Flood Studies Ground Validation field campaign, he presents a spatio-dynamic framework as a more comprehensive tool for product evaluation. He also demonstrates how hydrologic validation can help in specifying scale-dependent accuracy requirements for space-based products. Different applications may lead to different requirements.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015AGUFM.H21M..01K
- Keywords:
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- 3354 Precipitation;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 1854 Precipitation;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1855 Remote sensing;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 4303 Hydrological;
- NATURAL HAZARDS