ICIWaRM-Supported Product found to be Overall Best for Detecting Precipitation Extremes over Mainland China

Aug. 10, 2023

Satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) have shown great potential for monitoring precipitation (P) at large spatial scales. Most important is their ability to forecast hydrologic extremes–i.e., floods and droughts.

Rainsphere image showing increasing rainfall in western China over the past 40 years. — Based on PERSIANN-CDR data for western China. (Source: https://rainsphere.eng.uci.edu)

A recent article in Atmospheric Research (Zhang et al., 2022; ) evaluated four satellite precipitation products, including PERSIANN CDR–a system developed and maintained with the cooperation of ICIWaRM and UNESCO G-WADI. for estimating precipitation extremes over mainland China at annual, seasonal and monthly scales. They used various assessment metrics, such as maximum 1-day P, the simple daily intensity index (SDII), the count of days with P ≥ 20 mm, and the consecutive dry days (CDD).

Results indicate that PERSIANN-CDR performed overall best for the four indices at all timescales. For example, PERSIANN-CDR outperformed the other products in summer and autumn and along with one other product outperformed the others in winter as well.

More information on PERSIANN-CDR can be found at https://chrs.web.uci.edu/ .