Evaluation of Six Satellite and Reanalysis Precipitation Products Using Gauge Observations over the Yellow River Basin, China

Abstract

Satellite-based and reanalysis products are precipitation data sources with high potential, which may exhibit high uncertainties over areas with a complex climate and terrain. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the latest versions of six precipitation products (i.e., Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) V2.0, gauge-satellite blended (BLD) Climate Prediction Center Morphing technique (CMORPH) V1.0, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis (ERA) 5-Land, Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) V6 Final, Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) near-real-time product (NRT) V6, and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN)-CDR) over the Yellow River Basin, China. The daily precipitation amounts determined by these products were evaluated against gauge observations using continuous and categorical indices to reflect their quantitative accuracy and capability to detect rainfall events, respectively. The evaluation was first performed at different time scales (i.e., daily, monthly, and seasonal scales), and indices were then calculated at different precipitation grades and elevation levels. The results show that CMORPH outperforms the other products in terms of the quantitative accuracy and rainfall detection capability, while CHIRPS performs the worst. The mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), probability of detection (POD), and equitable threat score (ETS) increase from northwest to southeast, which is similar to the spatial pattern of precipitation amount. The correlation coefficient (CC) exhibits a decreasing trend with increasing precipitation, and the mean error (ME), MAE, RMSE, POD and BIAS reveal an increasing trend. CHIRPS demonstrates the highest capability to detect no-rain events and the lowest capability to detect rain events, while ERA5 has the opposite performance. This study suggests that CMORPH is the most reliable among the six precipitation products over the Yellow River Basin considering both the quantitative accuracy and rainfall detection capability. ME, MAE, RMSE, POD (except for ERA5) and BIAS (except for ERA5) increase with the daily precipitation grade, and CC, RMSE, POD, false alarm ratio (FAR), BIAS, and ETS exhibit a negative correlation with elevation. The results of this study could be beneficial for both developers and users of satellite and reanalysis precipitation products in regions with a complex climate and terrain.