Hydrological application and accuracy evaluation of PERSIANN satellite-based precipitation estimates over a humid continental climate catchment

Abstract

Study region: The Wełna catchment (52°30'–53°N and 16°35'–17°50'E) is a medium-sized, lowland catchment in the central part of Poland in Central Europe with a total catchment area of 2621 km2. Study focus: Research evaluating the performing of satellite-based precipitation datasets in Poland and Central Europe is scarce. This study assesses the accuracy and implements five satellite-based precipitation estimates in hydrological simulations. PERSIANN (a satellite-based precipitation dataset) family datasets (consisting of PERSIANN, PERSIANN-CDR, PERSIANN-CCS, PDIR-NOW, PERSIANN-CCS-CDR) was evaluated in daily steps and seasonal steps against a regional gridded dataset (G2DC-PL+) in the period 2003–2019. Soil and Water Assessment Tool+ (SWAT+), a relatively new eco-hydrological model, was employed to simulate runoff in daily time steps. New hydrological insights for the region: Our results revealed that PERSIANN family products could accurately detect precipitation events according to POD, FAR, and CSI indicators. PERSIANN-CDR has a better correlation in the northern and central parts, and shows low accuracy in the southeastern catchment with a higher altitude. A similar pattern is observed in PDIR-NOW and PERSIANN-CCS for R2. Moreover, the SWAT+ results demonstrate that G2DC-PL+ could be a reliable source alternative to gauge data in runoff simulations. PERSIANN-CDR performed slightly better in runoff simulations compared to other gridded datasets.

Keywords

• Satellite-derived rainfall
• Real-time
• Central Europe
• High resolution
• Gridded dataset