Correcting the TRMM rainfall product for hydrological modelling in sparsely-gauged mountainous basins

This study developed a correction approach to improve the rainfall field estimation using the TRMM rainfall product in a sparsely-gauged mountainous basin. First, Thiessen polygons were generated to define the measurement domain of each raingauge. Second, the rainfall of TRMM pixels in each Thiessen polygon was corrected using a benchmark method based on the difference between the monthly rainfall estimated by a raingauge and the TRMM pixel that possessed a gauge station (referred to as a gauged pixel). Third, the rainfall values in the gauged pixels were adjusted to the weighted average value of the gauge rainfall and corrected pixel rainfall. Finally, the rainfall in the non-gauged TRMM pixels was corrected as the sum of two terms. The first term is the adjusted rainfall in the corresponding gauged pixel in the same Thiessen polygon, and the second term is the rainfall (after benchmark correction) difference between the current pixel and the gauged pixel. Our results indicate that the corrected rainfall data outperforms the original TRMM product in the simulations of moderate and low flows and outperforms the sparse raingauges in the simulations of both peak and low flows.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR S. Huang     

GPM和TRMM卫星日降水数据在黄河源区的适用性分析

通过评估GPM计划三种日降水产品（IMERG-E、 IMERG-L和IMERG-F）和TRMM卫星、 两种日降水产品（TMPA 3B42和TMPA 3B42RT）在黄河源及其周边区域38个台站的适用性, 探究了五种产品探测精度和海拔高度及雨强的相关关系, 结果表明： 在与实测资料的一致性和偏差方面, GPM卫星产品要全面优于TMPA产品。在TRMM卫星产品中, 3B42产品明显优于3B42RT。五种产品的相关系数均表现出明显的从东南到西北递减的趋势, 均方根误差北部普遍低于南部。IMERG产品的探测率（POD）和探测成功率（CSI）都要普遍高于TMPA产品, 而误报率（FAR）则是TMPA 产品更低, 表现更好。五种产品均在个别台站出现了严重误报的情况, 这些台站主要分布在研究区的西北部。IMERG三种产品对于海拔高度的依赖程度具有很强的一致性, 而3B42RT产品对海拔高度几乎没有依赖。除3B42RT产品外, 其余四种产品的偏差均随雨强的增加而增大。在探测率方面, IMERG产品对小雨、 中雨和大雨的探测能力均优于TMPA产品。     

TRMM降水数据在中天山区域的精度评估分析

 遥感降水产品能反映降水的时空分布变化,对于资料稀缺的西北干旱区生态水文研究有重大意义。TRMM卫星降水资料在热带湿润地区有大量应用,但要将其用于我国西北干旱半干旱气候地区,还需对该数据产品在质量进行评估。选择干旱区内陆的新疆天山中部为研究区,并以周边15个台站的实测数据为依据对TRMM3B42降水数据质量进行评价。结果表明：（1）TRMM3B42数据对日降水事件的估计准确率较低,但是总体上暖季好于冷季,相对于较大的降水,对发生量小的降水估计更为准确;在暖季高估量小降水,低估量大降水,冷季则相反;（2）月降水情况来看,天山南坡两站与北坡的规律不符;对北坡山区降水估计的精度好于平原区,并且精度与海拔呈抛物线分布,降水越大的区域精度越高;偏差量的年内分布在各海拔区域之内一致性较好,但区域之间规律各有特点;（3）从年降水量来看,TRMM降水整体低于站点观测值,并且差量随着高程具有抛物线分布的特征。总之,该降水产品的质量总体上不高,但是其偏差在时间和空间上具有一定的规律性,该数据在干旱区的应用需要进一步校准处理。     

TMI、AMSR-E全球海表温度与Argo近海表温度的比较

本文将TMI（Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission （TRMM）Microwave Imager）和AMSR-E（Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System）卫星观测的全球海表温度与Argo浮标观测的近海表温度进行了比较。并检验了影响海温变化的因素,包括风速、水汽含量、液态云和地理位置。结果显示,TMI、AMSR-E海表温度与Argo近海表温度均明显相关。在低风速时,TMI、AMSR-E海表温度整体比Argo近海表温度高。在低风速时,TMI比AMSR-E海表温度更接近Argo近海表温度,但TMI海表温度在高纬可能没有经过良好校正。温度差异显示,在低水汽含量时,TMI和AMSR-E海表温度显示出暖的差异,代表TMI和AMSR-E海表温度在高纬均没有经过良好校正。黑潮延伸区的海表温度变化要比海潮区明显。春季在黑潮延伸区,卫星观测的海表温度与Argo近海表温度差异较小。在低风速时,TMI和AMSR-E海表温度均经过了良好校正,而TMI比AMSR-E效果更好。     

1998-2012年青藏高原TRMM 3B43降水数据的校准

运用1998-2012年青藏高原的TRMM 3B43降水数据以及气象台站实测降水数据,对比分析了青藏高原地区TRMM 3B43降水数据偏差分布规律。结果表明:(1) TRMM 3B43降水数据在青藏高原地区存在明显误差,特别是降水量大的地区和月份,偏差量较大。(2)青藏高原地区TRMM 3B43降水数据偏差分布与海拔、经纬度、降水量存在密切的关系。用偏差分布规律,加法修正法结合随机森林算法对青藏高原地区TRMM 3B43降水数据进行了校准。经过校准之后,数据精度得到显著提高,有效增加了数据的可用性,多年月平均数据决定系数R²最大可达到0.9(3、10月),最小也接近于0.5(12月),效率系数E均为正值,最大可达到90(3、10月);多年季平均和多年平均降水数据中除了第一季度结果稍差外(决定系数R²为0.58),其余数据校准效果均较好。     

塔里木河流域TRMM降水数据精度评估

利用塔里木河流域24个气象站降水数据,分析了2000-2013年TRMM多卫星降水数据(TRMM 3B43 v7)在塔里木河流域的适用性。检验结果表明:全年来看,TRMM数据对研究区所有站点的年均降水量拟合较好(R²=0.8846),流域内24个站点平均年降水量相对偏差为19.02%,其中60%的站点表现为TRMM年降水量高于地面实测年降水量;月降水方面,除个别站点(于田、且末、乌恰)较差外,大部分站点的拟合度都较好;就季节而言:春季拟合效果最好,夏、秋季的TRMM数据存在低估问题,而冬季则偏高估;流域降水量由东南向西北递增,并在西北部边缘地区增加较显著,形成一个相对丰水带;而向沙漠腹地方向延伸的降水量则呈减少趋势。同时流域最大降水区域在一年中变化存在一定的规律。     

TRMM降水数据的空间降尺度方法研究

以天山中段为研究区,以降水与高程（DEM）、植被指数（NDVI）、坡向（Aspect）、经纬度与之间存在的相关关系为基础,构建了TRMM卫星3B43降水数据与NDVI、DEM和坡向等相关因子的回归模型,对TsHARP统计降尺度算法引入DEM和局部Moran指数进行改进,得到2001~2006年研究区的250 m高分辨率降水空间分布数据。最后利用研究区气象站点降水数据对降尺度结果进行验证,得出降尺度的结果和实测值的误差明显小于原始降水数据和实测值的误差,年均降水最大改善程度是70 mm,因此构建的降尺度方法是合理可行的,可用于山区降水数据的降尺度研究。     

东北地区TRMM数据降尺度的GWR模型分析

利用东北地区2000-2010年93个气象站点观测数据作为“真实值”,对TRMM降水数据进行精度验证,发现研究区TRMM降水数据与观测数据之间具有明显的线性相关性,且TRMM降水数据数值偏大于观测值,表明TRMM降水数据在东北地区具有一定的可信度。对东北地区多年平均、2001、2010年的TRMM数据,进行GWR模型降尺度研究,得到1 km的新降水数据,并与全局OLS回归模型进行对比。结果表明：（1）相比全局OLS回归模型,GWR模型的降尺度结果可获得更好的R与RMSE,说明GWR模型更适用于东北地区TRMM数据的降尺度研究;（2）东北地区GWR模型的降尺度分析结果与观测数据之间的相关系数在0.44-0.97之间,且分布较分散;（3）经过降尺度的TRMM降水数据,在空间分辨率上有较大提高,能更真实地反映研究区的降水特征,为该数据小尺度的应用研究奠定基础。     

TRMM卫星降雨雷达观测的南海降雨空间结构和季节变化

利用热带降雨计划卫星(TRMM)获得的雷达降雨资料,对南海及其周边区域(简称南海地区)降雨的空间分布和季节特征进行了研究。结果表明：南海地区的降雨在空间上分布很不均匀,同时具有显著的季节变化。除了副高活动、季风潮、冬季冷涌和热带低压活动等天气过程,南海周边广泛分布的山地地形对该地区的降雨分布也产生强烈影响,降雨呈现南部高于北部、东部高于西部的分布特征?与CAMP和台站资料相比,PR观测具有更丰富的空间结构,能够更好地体现降雨随时间和空间变化的特征、反映高大的山地地形对降雨分布的影响。     

Evaluation of the real-time TRMM-based multi-satellite precipitation analysis for an operational flood prediction system in Nzoia Basin,Lake Victoria,Africa

Many researchers seek to take advantage of the recently available and virtually uninterrupted supply of satellite-based rainfall information as an alternative and supplement to the ground-based observations in order to implement a cost-effective flood prediction in many under-gauged regions around the world. Recently, NASA Applied Science Program has partnered with USAID and African-RCMRD to implement an operational water-hazard warning system, SERVIR-Africa. The ultimate goal of the project is to build up disaster management capacity in East Africa by providing local governmental officials and international aid organizations a practical decision-support tool in order to better assess emerging flood impacts and to quantify spatial extent of flood risk, as well as to respond to such flood emergencies more expediently. The objective of this article is to evaluate the applicability of integrating NASA’s standard satellite precipitation product with a flood prediction model for disaster management in Nzoia, sub-basin of Lake Victoria, Africa. This research first evaluated the TMPA real-time rainfall data against gauged rainfall data from the year 2002 through 2006. Then, the gridded Xinanjiang Model was calibrated to Nzoia basin for period of 1985–2006. Benchmark streamflow simulations were produced with the calibrated hydrological model using the rain gauge and observed streamflow data. Afterward, continuous discharge predictions forced by TMPA 3B42RT real-time data from 2002 through 2006 were simulated, and acceptable results were obtained in comparison with the benchmark performance according to the designated statistic indices such as bias ratio (20%) and NSCE (0.67). Moreover, it is identified that the flood prediction results were improved with systematically bias-corrected TMPA rainfall data with less bias (3.6%) and higher NSCE (0.71). Although the results justify to suggest to us that TMPA real-time data can be acceptably used to drive hydrological models for flood prediction purpose in Nzoia basin, continuous progress in space-borne rainfall estimation technology toward higher accuracy and higher spatial resolution is highly appreciated. Finally, it is also highly recommended that to increase flood forecasting lead time, more reliable and more accurate short- or medium-range quantitative precipitation forecasts is a must.