Evaluating the performance of multiple satellite-based precipitation products in the Congo River Basin using the SWAT model

Abstract

Study region: Congo River Basin Study Focus: Precipitation is the major driving force of hydrological processes and is one of the main input datasets for hydrological models. The Congo River Basin is one of the least studied major river basins in the world and suffers from the scarcity and difficulty in accessing rain gauge data, necessitating the use of satellite precipitation estimates for hydrological studies. In this study, we have made a comprehensive comparison of different satellite-based precipitation products’ inputs for a hydrological model in the Congo River Basin. New hydrological insight for this region: Our findings showed that the products based on satellite-only source tend to overestimate the rainy season peaks in comparison with the 3B42_V7 product. On the other hand, the satellite products that consider gauge calibration presented better agreements between each other. The hydrological model was able to reproduce the general precipitation products characteristics, while the gauge-adjusted satellite products performed better than those without gauge adjustments. Overall precipitation patterns have a crucial effect on the model’s performance and leads to different streamflow and water balance components’ values. The choice of rainfall product has a significant importance in the interpretation of the simulated hydrological cycle.

Keywords

• Precipitation
• Satellite observations
• FROGS
• SWAT model
• Congo River Basin