Assessment of TRMM product for precipitation extreme measurement over the Muda River Basin, Malaysia

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the capability of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42 version 7 product in estimating precipitation extremes over the Muda River Basin, Malaysia. Daily precipitation from 1998 to 2014 collected from eight climate stations that well distributed over the basin was used. Ten Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) precipitation extreme indices were used to represent the precipitation extreme condition. The results of the correlation analysis show that TMPA performed well in the consecutive dry days (CDD), number of very heavy precipitation days (R20mm) and extremely wet days (R99p) indices calculations. Moreover, TMPA shows a similar increasing or decreasing trend as the gauge in most of the indices, indicating it can be used for precipitation extreme trend analysis over the basin. Keywords: Climate, ETCCDI, Precipitation extreme, Muda River Basin, TRMM