Abstract
An accurate estimation of precipitation amount is crucial for various studies and planning related to water resource management, effective flood prediction and warning systems, agriculture, climatic research, and disaster risk management. However, due to the sparse and uneven distribution of ground-based precipitation gauges over rugged terrain, accurate and consistent measurement is inadequate in many developing and mountainous countries like Nepal. Therefore, satellite-based precipitation products (SPPs) and interpolation-based gridded data are considered as a vital source of precipitation estimation, which may serve as crucial inputs for a wide range of hydrological applications. However, in the absence of quality assessment, applications of these products pose uncertainty. This study evaluated the performance of three SPPs, i.e., CHIRPS V2.0, PERSIANN CDR, and MSWEP V2.8, and a ground-based gridded precipitation product APHRODITE on daily, monthly, and annual scales at ten rain gauges over the Arun River Basin. The performance of the precipitation products was evaluated from 1983 to 2014 using several statistical categorical and continuous indices. Our results show APHRODITE and MSWEP V2.8 are comparatively better than CHIRPS V2.0 and PERSIANN CDR in the study area. We finally applied the bias correction of the selected products using a linear scaling method, where daily precipitation data were corrected using a monthly correction factor. We find all SPPs have improved after the bias correction. The method is scalable and applicable in other river basins across the country and beyond Nepal.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and material
The collection of daily rainfall datasets at the selected precipitation stations was done from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Nepal (http://www.dhm.gov.np). The data is not available publicly. These data have to be purchased (http://dhm.gov.np/pricelist.html) and used by the person(s)/institution for the sole purpose of their work as authorized by the DHM. The data cannot be used for commercial purposes. Sources of chosen satellite-based precipitation products are mentioned in the text.
Code availability
This study does not employ any customized code. All tools used in this study are mentioned in the Data and Methodology section.
References
Abd Elhamid AMI, Eltahan AMH, Mohamed LME, Hamouda IA (2020) Assessment of the two satellite-based precipitation products TRMM and RFE rainfall records using ground based measurements. Alex Eng J 59(2):1049–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2020.03.035
Amorim J da S, Viola MR, Junqueira R, de Oliveira VA, de Mello CR (2020) Evaluation of satellite precipitation products for hydrological modeling in the Brazilian cerrado biome. Water (Switzerland), 12(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/W12092571
Ashouri H, Hsu KL, Sorooshian S, Braithwaite DK, Knapp KR, Cecil LD, Nelson BR, Prat OP (2015) PERSIANN-CDR: daily precipitation climate data record from multisatellite observations for hydrological and climate studies. Bull Am Meteor Soc 96(1):69–83. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00068.1
Athey A, Ellis AW, Carroll DF, Blevins RD (2015) Verification of satellite derived precipitation estimates over complex terrain: a ground truth analysis for Nepal. 78. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/52917/Athey_AT_T_2015.pdf;sequence=1. Accessed 15 Sept 2021
Bajracharya SR, Shrestha MS, Shrestha AB (2017) Assessment of high-resolution satellite rainfall estimation products in a streamflow model for flood prediction in the Bagmati Basin, Nepal. J Flood Risk Manag 10(1):5–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12133
Bajracharya SR, Palash W, Shrestha MS, Khadgi VR, Duo C, Das PJ, Dorji C (2015) Systematic evaluation of satellite-based rainfall products over the Brahmaputra basin for hydrological applications. Adv Meteorol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/398687
Beck HE, Wood EF, Pan M, Fisher CK, Miralles DG, Van Dijk AIJM, McVicar TR, Adler RF (2019) MSWep v2 global 3-hourly 01° precipitation: methodology and quantitative assessment. Bull Amer Meteorol Soc 100(3):473–500. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0138.1
Belayneh A, Sintayehu G, Gedam K, Muluken T (2020) Evaluation of satellite precipitation products using HEC-HMS model. Model Earth Syst Environ 6(4):2015–2032. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-020-00792-z
Bookhagen B, Burbank DW (2010) Toward a complete Himalayan hydrological budget: spatiotemporal distribution of snowmelt and rainfall and their impact on river discharge. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 115(3):1–25. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001426
Chen J, Brissette FP, Chaumont D, Braun M (2013) Finding appropriate bias correction methods in downscaling precipitation for hydrologic impact studies over North America. Water Resour Res 49(7):4187–4205. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20331
Chen J, Li Z, Li L, Wang J, Qi W, Xu CY, Kim JS (2020) Evaluation of multi-satellite precipitation datasets and their error propagation in hydrological modeling in a monsoon-prone region. Remote Sens 12(21):1–33. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12213550
Dinku T, Ruiz F, Connor SJ, Ceccato P (2010) Validation and intercomparison of satellite rainfall estimates over Colombia. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 49(5):1004–1014. https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JAMC2260.1
Duncan JMA, Biggs EM (2012) Assessing the accuracy and applied use of satellite-derived precipitation estimates over Nepal. Appl Geogr 34:626–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.04.001
Funk C, Peterson P, Landsfeld M, Pedreros D, Verdin J, Shukla S, Husak G, Rowland J, Harrison L, Hoell A, Michaelsen J (2015) The climate hazards infrared precipitation with stations - a new environmental record for monitoring extremes. Scientific Data 2:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.66
Ghaemi E, Foelsche U, Kann A, Fuchsberger J (2021) Evaluation of INCA precipitation analysis using a very dense rain gauge network in southeast Austria. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, February, 1–33. 10.5194/hess-2021-34
Ghaju S, Alfredsen K (2016) Evaluation of satellite based precipitations and their applicability for rainfall runoff modelling in Narayani basin of Nepal. J Hydrol Meteorol 8(1):22–31. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhm.v8i1.15569
Hamal K, Sharma S, Khadka N, Baniya B, Ali M, Shrestha MS, Xu T, Shrestha D, Dawadi B (2020) Evaluation of MERRA-2 precipitation products using gauge observation in Nepal. Hydrology 7(3):1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology7030040
Hossain K, Water S, Agency S (2016) Satellite based flood forecasting for the Koshi River Basin , Nepal TITLE PAGE Satellite based flood forecasting for the Koshi River Basin , Nepal. April 2014. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2112.6807
Hsu KL, Gao X, Sorooshian S, Gupta HV (1997) Precipitation estimation from remotely sensed information using artificial neural networks. J Appl Meteorol 36(9):1176–1190. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1997)036%3c1176:PEFRSI%3e2.0.CO;2
Islam MN, Das S, Uyeda H (2010) Calibration of TRMM derived rainfall over Nepal during 1998–2007. In The Open Atmospheric Science Journal (Vol. 4). http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/3b42.html. Accessed 15 Dec 2021
Ji X, Li Y, Luo X, He D, Guo R, Wang J, Bai Y, Yue C, Liu C (2020) Evaluation of bias correction methods for APHRODITE data to improve hydrologic simulation in a large Himalayan basin. Atmos Res 242(September 2019):104964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2020.104964
Jiang S, Liu S, Ren L, Yong B, Zhang L, Wang M, Lu Y, He Y (2017) Hydrologic evaluation of six high resolution satellite precipitation products in capturing extreme precipitation and streamflow over a medium-sized basin in China. Water (Switzerland), 10(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10010025
JICA (1985) Master plan study on Kosi River water resources development—interim report, Tokyo
Karki R, Talchabhadel R, Aalto J, Baidya SK (2015) New climatic classification of Nepal. Theor Appl Climatol 125(3):799–808. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00704-015-1549-0
Kattelmann R (1990) Hydrology and development of the Arun River, Nepal. Hydrol Mt Reg I 193:777–784
Khatakho R, Talchabhadel R, Thapa BR (2021) Evaluation of different precipitation inputs on streamflow simulation in Himalayan River basin. J Hydrol 599(October 2020):126390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126390
Kidd C, Becker A, Huffman GJ, Muller CL, Joe P, Skofronick-Jackson G, Kirschbaum DB (2017) So, how much of the Earth’s surface is covered by rain gauges? Bull Am Meteor Soc 98(1):69–78. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00283.1
Krakauer NY, Pradhanang SM, Lakhankar T, Jha AK (2013) Evaluating satellite products for precipitation estimation in mountain regions: a case study for Nepal. Remote Sens 5(8):4107–4123. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5084107
Lo Conti F, Hsu KL, Noto LV, Sorooshian S (2014) Evaluation and comparison of satellite precipitation estimates with reference to a local area in the Mediterranean Sea. Atmos Res 138:189–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2013.11.011
Mashingia F, Mtalo F, Bruen M (2014) Validation of remotely sensed rainfall over major climatic regions in northeast Tanzania. Phys Chem Earth 67–69(January):55–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2013.09.013
Masood M, Shakir AS, Azhar AH, Nabi G, Habib-u-Rehman (2020) Assessment of real time, multi-satellite precipitation products under diverse climatic and topographic conditions. Asia-Pacific J Atmos Sci, 56(4), 577–591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-019-00166-1
Mazzoleni M, Brandimarte L, Amaranto A (2019) Evaluating precipitation datasets for large-scale distributed hydrological modelling. J Hydrol 578(December 2018):24076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124076
Miao C, Ashouri H, Hsu KL, Sorooshian S, Duan Q (2015) Evaluation of the PERSIANN-CDR daily rainfall estimates in capturing the behavior of extreme precipitation events over China. J Hydrometeorol 16(3):1387–1396. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-14-0174.1
Moazami S, Golian S, Kavianpour MR, Hong Y (2014) Uncertainty analysis of bias from satellite rainfall estimates using copula method. Atmos Res 137:145–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2013.08.016
Müller MF, Thompson SE (2013) Bias adjustment of satellite rainfall data through stochastic modeling: methods development and application to Nepal. Adv Water Resour 60:121–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.08.004
Nepal B, Shrestha D, Sharma S, Shrestha MS, Aryal D, Shrestha N (2021) Assessment of GPM-era satellite products’ (IMERG and GSMaP) ability to detect precipitation extremes over mountainous country Nepal. Atmosphere 12(2):254. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020254
Nguyen P, Ombadi M, Sorooshian S, Hsu K, AghaKouchak A, Braithwaite D, Ashouri H, Rose Thorstensen A (2018) The PERSIANN family of global satellite precipitation data: a review and evaluation of products. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 22(11):5801–5816. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5801-2018
Olen SM, Bookhagen B, Hoffmann B, Sachse D, Adhikari DP, Strecker MR, Olen SM, Bookhagen B, Hoffmann B, Sachse D, Adhikari DP, M. R. S. (2014) Understanding erosion rates in the Himalayan orogen: a case study from the Arun Valley. J Geophys Res F Earth Surf, 120(10), 300–316. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002871.Received
Sharifi E, Eitzinger J, Dorigo W (2019) Performance of the state-of-the-art gridded precipitation products over mountainous terrain : a regional study over Austria. 1–20.
Sharma S, Chen Y, Zhou X, Yang K, Li X, Niu X, Hu X, Khadka N (2020a) Evaluation of GPM-era satellite precipitation products on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas against rain gauge data. Remote Sens 12(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12111836
Sharma S, Khadka N, Hamal K, Shrestha D, Talchabhadel R, Chen Y (2020b) How accurately can satellite products (TMPA and IMERG) detect precipitation patterns, extremities, and drought across the Nepalese Himalaya? Earth Space Sci 7(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020bEA001315
Shrestha MS, Artan GA, Bajracharya SR, Gautam DK, Tokar SA (2011) Bias-adjusted satellite-based rainfall estimates for predicting floods: Narayani Basin. J Flood Risk Manag 4(4):360–373. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318X.2011.01121.x
Shrestha MS, Artan GA, Bajracharya SR, Sharma RR (2008) Using satellite-based rainfall estimates for streamflow modelling: Bagmati Basin. J Flood Risk Manag 1(2):89–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318x.2008.00011.x
Shrestha M, Takara K, Kubota T, Bajracharya S (2011) Verification of GSMaP rainfall estimates over the Central Himalayas. J Japan Soc Civ Eng Ser B1 67(4):I_37-I_42. https://doi.org/10.2208/jscejhe.67.i_37
Shrestha M, Acharya SC, Shrestha PK (2017a) Bias correction of climate models for hydrological modelling–are simple methods still useful? Meteorol Appl 24(3):531–539. https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1655
Shrestha NK, Qamer FM, Pedreros D, Murthy MSR, Wahid SM, Shrestha M (2017b) Evaluating the accuracy of Climate Hazard Group (CHG) satellite rainfall estimates for precipitation based drought monitoring in Koshi basin, Nepal. J Hydrol Reg Stud 13(February):138–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2017.08.004
Shrestha TB (1989) Development of ecology of the Arun River Basin in Nepal
Sun R, Yuan H, Liu X, Jiang X (2016) Evaluation of the latest satellite-gauge precipitation products and their hydrologic applications over the Huaihe River basin. J Hydrol 536:302–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.02.054
Talchabhadel R, Aryal A, Kawaike K, Yamanoi K, Nakagawa H, Bhatta B, Karki S, Thapa BR (2021) Evaluation of precipitation elasticity using precipitation data from ground and satellite-based estimates and watershed modeling in western Nepal. J Hydrol Reg Stud, 33(July 2020), 100768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2020.100768
Talchabhadel R, Karki R, Parajuli B (2017) Intercomparison of precipitation measured between automatic and manual precipitation gauge in Nepal. Measurement 106:264–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MEASUREMENT.2016.06.047
Tan ML, Ibrahim AL, Duan Z, Cracknell AP, Chaplot V (2015) Evaluation of six high-resolution satellite and ground-based precipitation products over Malaysia. Remote Sens 7(2):1504–1528. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs70201504
Tan ML, Santo H (2018) Comparison of GPM IMERG, TMPA 3B42 and PERSIANN-CDR satellite precipitation products over Malaysia. Atmos Res 202(July2017):63–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2017.11.006
Taylor KE (2001) in a Single Diagram. 106, 7183–7192
Tian Y, Peters-Lidard CD, Eylander JB (2010) Real-time bias reduction for satellite-based precipitation estimates. J Hydrometeorol 11(6):1275–1285. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JHM1246.1
Tong, K., Su, F., Yang, D., & Hao, Z. (2014). Evaluation ofsatellite precipitation retrievals and their potential utilities in hydrologic modeling over the Tibetan Plateau. J Hydrol, 519(PA), 423–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.07.044
Venkatesh K, Krakauer NY, Sharifi E, Ramesh H (2020) Evaluating the performance of secondary precipitation products through statistical and hydrological modeling in a mountainous tropical basin of India. Adv Meteorol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8859185
Wang Q, Xia J, She D, Zhang X, Liu J, Zhang Y (2021) Assessment of four latest long-term satellite-based precipitation products in capturing the extreme precipitation and streamflow across a humid region of southern China. Atmos Res 257(8):105554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105554
WMO (2008) Guide to hydrological practices volume I hydrology – from measurement to hydrological information. In WMO-No. 168 (Vol. 53, Issue 9).
Yatagai A, Kamiguchi K, Arakawa O, Hamada A, Yasutomi N, Kitoh A (2012) Aphrodite constructing a long-term daily gridded precipitation dataset for Asia based on a dense network of rain gauges. Bull Am Meteor Soc 93(9):1401–1415. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00122.1
Zhang Y, Hanati G, Danierhan S, Liu Q, Xu Z (2020) Evaluation and comparison of daily gpm/trmm precipitation products over the Tianshan mountains in China. Water (Switzerland), 12(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113088
Acknowledgements
We want to extend our gratitude to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal, for providing us the valuable datasets of the observed rain gauge stations. We would also like to thank the developer of all four SPPs, for providing free downloadable daily precipitation datasets.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
SD, RT, and VPP visualized the research work; SD formulated the methodology and analyzed the data; RT helped in coding done in Python; RT and VPP supervised the research work; SD wrote the original draft report; and RT and VPP helped in reviewing and editing. All authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
The authors are responsible for the manuscript’s integrity, including scientific ethics.
Consent to participate
There are no participants other than authors in this study. The authors agree to participate.
Consent for publication
There are no participants other than authors in this study for their consent on publication. The authors agree to publish.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dangol, S., Talchabhadel, R. & Pandey, V.P. Performance evaluation and bias correction of gridded precipitation products over Arun River Basin in Nepal for hydrological applications. Theor Appl Climatol 148, 1353–1372 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04001-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04001-y