C H A P T E R

16
Precipitation
O U T L I N E

16.1 Introduction 621 16.4.2 Global Satellite Mapping of

Precipitation 635
16.2 Surface measurement techniques 622
16.4.3 Global Precipitation Climatology
16.2.1 Rain gauge network 622
Project 636
16.2.2 Ground-based radar 623
16.4.4 Global Precipitation Measurement 638
16.3 Estimation from satellite data 625 16.4.5 Climate Prediction Center
16.3.1 VIS/IR algorithms 625 Morphing 640
16.3.2 Passive microwave algorithms 626
16.5 Global precipitation climatology 641
16.3.3 Active microwave algorithms 628
16.3.4 Multisensor algorithms 629 16.6 Summary 643
16.4 Global and regional datasets 630 References 645
16.4.1 Tropical Rainfall Measuring
Mission 631

climatology of global precipitation and associated large

Abstract
Precipitation is a fundamental component of the global
water cycle and a key hydrologic variable of the water
cycle for meteorology, climatology, and hydrology.
Accurate observations of precipitation and its regional
and global distributions have long been scientific chal-
lenges. The satellite retrieval of precipitation has
matured over four decades of development. This chap-
ter briefly introduces surface measurement techniques,
the principles of precipitation retrieval from spaceborne
sensors, major satellite-based precipitation datasets,
and global precipitation climatology. Section 16.2 first
introduces surface measurement techniques, including
gauge- and radar-based networks. Section 16.3 de-
scribes the principles of precipitation retrieval from
spaceborne sensors. Section 16.4 introduces major
satellite-based precipitation datasets for regional and
global applications. Section 16.5 discusses the
climatic events. Section 16.6 summarizes and provides
perspectives for the further development of precipita-
tion retrieval in the near future.
16.1 Introduction
Precipitation is a fundamental component of
the global water cycle and a key hydrologic
variable of the water cycle for meteorology,
climatology, and hydrology. Accurate observa-
tions of precipitation and its regional and
global distributions have long been scientific
challenges. The satellite retrieval of precipitation
has matured over five decades of development.

Advanced Remote Sensing, Second Edition

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815826-5.00016-7 621 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
622 16. Precipitation
This chapter briefly introduces surface measure-
ment techniques, the principles of precipitation
retrieval from spaceborne sensors, major
satellite-based precipitation datasets, and global
precipitation climatology.
In a physical sense, precipitation is defined as
“all liquid or solid phase aqueous particles that
originate in the atmosphere and fall to the
Earth’s surface” (Michaelides et al., 2009). It is
a fundamental component of the global water
cycle. Precipitation is moisture fluxes from the
atmosphere to the earth’s surface, and it is a
key hydrologic variable of the water cycle for
meteorology, climatology, and hydrology. The
atmosphere obtains approximately three-
quarters of its heat energy from the release of
latent heat by precipitation (Kummerow and
Barnes, 1998). Precipitation plays an important
role in the climate system by connecting the
atmosphere and land surface processes.
Rain and snow are the principal forms of
precipitation. Unlike other meteorological
parameters, rainfall has a high degree of spatio-
temporal variability and highly nonnormal
behavior. Among atmospheric variables, it is
the most difficult to measure. The spaceetime
structure of precipitation produces top-down
effects on dynamic terrestrial hydrologic pro-
cesses such as runoff generation and soil mois-
ture evolution. Thus, accurate observations of
precipitation and its regional and global distri-
butions are quite challenging.
This chapter first introduces surface measure-
ment techniques, including gauge- and radar-based
networks. Section 16.2 describes the principles of
precipitation retrieval from space-borne sensors.
Section 16.3 introduces major satellite-based pre-
cipitation datasets for regional and global applica-
tions. Section 16.4 discusses the climatology of
global precipitation and associated large climatic
events. Section 16.5 presents conclusions and pro-
vides perspectives for the further development of
precipitation retrieval in the near future.
16.2 Surface measurement techniques
Rainfall is the most common form of precipi-
tation. Surface rainfall can be measured with a
ground instrument. Typically, a rain gauge mea-
sures the integrated volume of an ensemble of
raindrops, whereas a disdrometer counts and
measures drop size at a specific location.
Ground-based meteorological radar was
invented to monitor precipitation with a high
spatiotemporal resolution (Michaelides et al.,
2009).
16.2.1 Rain gauge network
Rain gauges are conventionally used to mea-
sure rainfall or snowfall in situ. More than 40
rain gauge designs are used throughout the
world (Linacre, 1992). The size of the canister
opening and the height of the gauge above the
ground have yet to be globally standardized
(Shelton, 2009). The World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) adopted the British
design as the standard gauge, which has a cylin-
drical diameter of 127 mm and a rim located
1 m above the ground (Linacre, 1992). In the
United States, the standard rain gauge has a
203-mm diameter opening located 800 mm
above the ground.
Existing rain gauges tend to underestimate
actual precipitation, with a bias of 9% on average
(Groisman and Legates, 1994; Duchon and
Essenberg, 2001; Shelton, 2009). The major cause
of this inaccuracy is the turbulence over the
canister mouth. Other relevant problems include
wetting of the internal walls of the gauge, evap-
oration, splashing into or out of the gauge, and
blowing snow (Shelton, 2009).
Sufficiently dense rain gauge networks are
often required to characterize spatiotemporal
variations in precipitation (Liu, 2003). Most
countries have their own gauge networks.
WMO now coordinates the Global Telecommu-
nications Network, which distributes rainfall
information from participating gauges and
forms the largest rain gauge network in the
world.
Many factors, including accessibility, ease of
maintenance, and topographical aspects, are
considered when determining the location of a
rain gauge. At the network level, the accuracy
of an observation depends on the total number
 16.2 Surface measurement techniques
of gauges and their locations. The required
minimum density of a rain gauge network is
determined by the temporal resolution of the
desired precipitation measurements, study
objective, geographic configuration of the study
region, and economic considerations. The
WMO established a minimum density standard
for constructing precipitation gauge networks
(Table 16.1).
Rodda (1969) summarized the problems and
solutions of network design and proposed a use-
ful distinction among three levels of networks.
Level I networks acquire information for
national planning purposes related to gross esti-
mates of water resources, surveillance of major
storms, and national databases. Level II net-
works supplement level I networks in particular
basins or regions and provide extra information
for local planning efforts. Level III networks
gather operational information for local water
management. The networks designed for each
level can differ, and the acquired knowledge
can be used to classify precipitation networks.
In practice, the entire network of rain gauges
may contain components from all three levels.
16.2.2 Ground-based radar
Rain gauges measure point precipitation,
while meteorological radar systems take
snapshots of the drop size distribution (DSD)
TABLE 16.1 The minimum density for precipitation gauge networks.
Range of norms for minimum
Region type network (km2/gauge)
I 600e900
IIa 100e250
IIb 25
III 1500e10,000
I, Flat regions in temperate, Mediterranean, and tropical zones; IIa, Mountainous regions in temperate, Mediterranean, and tropical zones; IIb,
Small mountain/islands with irregular precipitation patterns, requiring dense hydrographic networks; III, Arid and polar zones.
623
of precipitation above the surface of a specified
volume (Michaelides et al., 2009). Ground-
based radar systems usually have a 1- to 2-km
spatial resolution and temporal revisit times of
15e30 min (Shelton, 2009). Single observing
points can provide coverage for large areas,
with a high spatiotemporal resolution. This
feature makes them an attractive alternative to
precipitation measurements. Furthermore, com-
posite data from several radar systems extend
the observation area, offering spatial and tempo-
ral coverages that are better than those obtained
with rain gauge networks.
The principal physical basis of precipitation
radar (PR) systems is the relationship between
range-corrected, backscattered return power
and the physical properties of targets in the ra-
dar beam (Shelton, 2009) (Fig. 16.1). The radar
equation for spherical drops can be expressed as
jKj2 Z
Pr ¼ cr (16.1)
r2r
where Pr is the average backscattered power
returning to the receiving antenna over several
pulses in Watts; rr is the distance from the target
to the radar in Km; jKj2 is the complex index of
refraction, representing the physical characteris-
tics of the precipitation particles within the radar
resolution volume, with values of 0.93 for water
and 0.197 for ice; and cr is the radar constant,
which groups numerical constants and radar
Range of provisional norms in difficult
situations (km2/gauge)
900e3000
250e1000
624 16. Precipitation

and Mueller, 1968). Extensive experimental

results have shown that

Antenna Z ¼ aRb (16.4)

beam
where Z is the radar reflectivity in mm /m3 or
6

Emitted and
Target
log-scale decibel units (dB); R is the rainfall rate
backscattered in mm/h; and a and b are coefficients, with a
energy
ranging from 70 to 500 and b ranging from 1.0
Target to 2.0. The coefficients are often empirically
height
Radar antenna determined or calibrated using rain gauge data.
The ZeR relationship is the principal basis of
Range
many retrieval algorithms, but both Z and R
are subject to uncertainties. The relationship is
scale-dependent, and variations in the relation-
FIGURE 16.1 A diagram of the principles of precipitation
radar. Courtesy of Shelton, M. L., 2008. Hydroclimatology. Cam-
ship depend on the DSD of the precipitation,
bridge: Cambridge University Press. radar clutter produced by ground echoes, the
presence of an enhanced ‘‘bright band’’ related
hardware parameters. This last parameter can be to a melting snow layer, and radar signal attenu-
expressed as ation due to heavy rainfall (Morin et al., 2003;
Shelton, 2009; Villarini and Krajewski, 2010).
Pt G2 l2 qH qv csP p3 PR systems typically use longer wavelengths
cr ¼ (16.2)
1024 ln 2l2 of 4e15 cm (e.g., S-band and C-band), and algo-
where Pt is the pulse power of the radar trans- rithms that have been developed and tested for
mitter in Watts; G is the dimensionless antenna low-frequency, high-power systems. In recent
gain; l is the wavelength of the transmitted years, high-frequency, low-power (e.g., X-band)
wave in m; qH is the horizontal bandwidth in ra- systems have received an increasing amount of
dians; qv is the vertical bandwidth in radians; c is attention. Several methods have been developed
the speed of light (3  108 m/s); and sp is the to correct for rain-path attenuation and estimate
pulse duration in seconds. Z is the radar reflec- DSD parameters for X-band systems (Michae-
tivity factor, which represents the intensity of lides et al., 2009).
the return signal in relation to the density and Radar networks have been established in
size of the targets. It is expressed as several countries. The Next-Generation Radar
Z N system, which includes 159 high-resolution
X X Doppler weather radar systems, was deployed
Z¼ D6i ¼ ni D6i ¼ NðDÞD6 dD
vol 0 in the United States (Brown and Lewis, 2005).
In Japan, the Automated Meteorological Data
(16.3)
Acquisition System (AMeDAS), which includes
where D is the drop diameter in mm, and N(D) 20 ground-based radars, was developed by the
dD is the number of particles per unit volume Japan Meteorological Agency (Makihara et al.,
in the diameter range from D to D þ dD. 1996). The Canadian weather radar network,
Both the reflectivity and the rainfall rates are which consists of 31 weather radars, spans
functions of the raindrop size distribution (Stout Canada’s most populated regions.
 16.3 Estimation from satellite data
To date, both rain gauge and radar data have
been widely applied to a variety of fields,
including short-term weather and flood fore-
casting and hydrologic modeling (Yuter, 2003;
Neary et al., 2004). These data are also used for
calibration and validation purposes when devel-
oping reliable precipitation retrieval algorithms
in satellite remote sensing applications (Krajew-
ski, 1987).
16.3 Estimation from satellite data
Surface-based observations of precipitation
are mostly performed with rain gauges and, if
available, ground radar. However, observations
are often impossible over oceans. Furthermore,
for some remote and mountainous areas, obser-
vations are scarce and generally not uniform.
Satellites can be used to compensate for the
limitations of surface-based observations. Since
the launch of the first meteorological satellite,
the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite
(TIROS-1), in April 1960, a plethora of satellite
data have been used to extract meteorological
information (Kidd, 2001). Passive sensors based
on visible (VIS), infrared (IR), and passive micro-
wave (PMW) wavelengths onboard geostation-
ary (GEO) or low earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites
have been primarily used to retrieve
TABLE 16.2 Classification of satellite-based retrieval of precipitation.
Sensors Typical algorithms
VIS/IR GPI; GMSRA; OPI; GriffitheWoodley
algorithm
PMW The Wilheit algorithm; the SSM/I
algorithm; GPROF
Active The TRMM standard PR algorithm
microwave
Multisensor CMORPH; TMPA; GSMaP
625
precipitation information for approximately 50
years. Launched in 1997, the Tropical Rainfall
Measuring Mission (TRMM) was the first space-
borne PR system (Kummerow and Barnes, 1998).
On February 28, 2014, the Global Precipitation
Measurement (GPM) was launched into space,
which is a heritage of the TRMM (Hou et al.,
2014). Over 60 empirical and physical retrieval
algorithms have been developed for the
launched sensors (Ebert and Manton, 1998;
Kubota et al., 2009). Levizzani et al. (2007)
provided an overview of the state-of-the-art al-
gorithms, sensors, and techniques used in
precipitation retrievals from space. This section
briefly describes the main types of retrieval algo-
rithms, which use VIS/IR, PMW, active micro-
wave sensors, and various combinations of
these technologies (Table 16.2).
16.3.1 VIS/IR algorithms
The primary idea behind the use of VIS/IR
data to infer precipitation information is that
cold and bright clouds are related to convection.
Convective clouds are likely to produce rain.
Satellite observations of cloud tops can be used
indirectly to derive ground rainfall amounts.
More specifically, IR cloud-top temperatures
are related to the rainfall probability and inten-
sity on the ground. The most widely used
References
Arkin and Meisner (1987); Ba and Gruber (2001); Griffith et al. (1978);
Xie and Arkin (1997)
Wilheit et al. (1977); Ferraro (1997); Kummerow et al. (2001);
Iguchi et al. (2000)
Joyce et al. (2004); Huffman et al. (2007); Okamoto et al. (2005)
626 16. Precipitation
algorithm is the Geostationary Operational Envi-
ronmental Satellites (GOES) precipitation index
(GPI) (Arkin and Meisner, 1987), which can be
expressed in millimeters as
GPI ¼ rc Fc t (16.5)
where rc is a constant (3 mm/h) and t is the
length of the period in hours for which Fc is the
mean fractional cloudiness, a dimensionless
number ranging from 0 to 1. Fc is obtained
from the IR pixels associated with brightness
temperatures <235K over a spatial domain
more than 50  50 km. GPI is simple, but its
application is limited to 40 Ne40 S, where the
major rain systems are convective in nature
(Kidd, 2001). Validations showed that while
GPI estimates are highly correlated (R2 > 0.7)
with gauge data in the Americas, the eastern
and central Pacific, and the western Atlantic,
biases can be as large as 50%e150% per month
(Arkin and Meisner, 1987).
Ba and Gruber (2001) proposed the GOES
Multispectral Rainfall Algorithm (GMSRA); this
algorithm uses all five VIS/IR bands from the
GOES satellite to extract the cloud and precipita-
tion extents and then derives rainfall with correc-
tions to the cloud and precipitation regimes.
Validation with gauge-adjusted radar data has
demonstrated that the performance of GMSRA
is better than that of GPI. The daily estimates
have positive biases to the radar data on the
order of several millimeters on the global scale.
The other major VIS/IR algorithms include the
GriffitheWoodley algorithm (Griffith et al.,
1978) and the Outgoing Long-wave Radiation
(OLR) precipitation index (OPI) (Xie and Arkin,
1997). Ebert and Manton (1998) used the Geosta-
tionary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) network
and ground radar data to compare retrieval algo-
rithms for rainfall in the equatorial western
Pacific Ocean. Among the 16 VIS/IR algorithms,
large variations in the magnitude of the retrieved
rainfall were observed, while the patterns were
similar.
Despite their limited accuracy, these algo-
rithms have been applied to a range of scales
and fields including operational meteorology.
These algorithms have benefited from the avail-
ability of the GEO VIS/IR observations, and they
provide an adequate level of temporal precipita-
tion resolution, with high variability in space,
time, and intensity.
16.3.2 Passive microwave algorithms
PMW algorithms are more physically direct
than the VIS/IR algorithms. A simplified form
of microwave radiative transfer can be expressed
as (Wilheit et al., 1999)
dRðq; fÞ
¼ AþS (16.6)
ds
where R(q, f) is the radiance in the direction
specified by the polar angles, q and f; s is
distance in the (q, f) direction; A denotes the ab-
sorption and concomitant emission; and S repre-
sents the loss and gain of radiance due to
scattering. At PMW wavelengths, precipitation
particles are the main source of attenuation of
the upwelling radiation. The radiation emitted
from atmospheric particles increases the signal
received at the sensor. Conversely, scattering
induced by the hydrometeors decreases the
radiation stream.
Over the ocean, because emissivity at PMW
has a narrow range (0.4e0.5), the background
radiometric signal is low and constant. Thus,
using low-frequency bands (<20 GHz), addi-
tional emissions from precipitation can be used
to identify and quantify precipitation. Over
land, the surface emissivity can be as high as
0.9, and emissions from hydrometeors cannot
be measured accurately. Alternatively, scattering
caused by ice particles decreases received radia-
tion at high frequencies (>35 GHz). Early
research confirmed that PMW radiometry could
be used to estimate surface precipitation
(e.g., Savage and Weinman, 1975). Alishouse
 16.3 Estimation from satellite data
(1983) found that 18, 19.35, and 37 GHz were
particularly useful to extract atmospheric liquid
water content, precipitable water, and rainfall
rate.
Based on these principles, many approaches
have been proposed to retrieve precipitation.
The first retrieval algorithm made simple regres-
sion steps between surface rainfall rates and the
simulated or measured brightness temperatures
(Wilheit et al., 1977). Based on a microwave radi-
ative transfer theory, a model is developed
between microwave brightness temperatures
and rainfall rates. The simulations were
compared with the brightness temperature at a
wavelength of 1.55 cm for the Electrically Scan-
ning Microwave Radiometer on the Nimbus 5
satellite and the rain rates derived from WSR-
57 meteorological radar measurements.
Ground-based validations showed that the esti-
mates were accurate within a factor of 2 for the
range of 1e25 mm/h over ocean areas.
Ferraro (1997) developed a statisticale
physical algorithm that is most widely used for
operational uses. The algorithm includes two
retrieval techniques: one is based primarily on
85 GHz scattering techniques (Algorithm-85)
with the other on a 37 GHz scattering (Algo-
rithm-37) over land and emission only over
ocean. Specifically, the Algorithm-37 is
described as follows over land
SI37 ¼ 62:18 þ 0:773TB19v  TB37v (16.7a)
R ¼ 1:3 þ 1:46SI37 (16.7b)
and over ocean
Q19 ¼  2:70½lnð290  TB19v Þ  2:84
(16.7c)
 0:40 lnð290  TB22v Þ
Q37 ¼  1:15½lnð290  TB37v Þ  2:99
(16.7d)
 0:32 lnð290  TB22v Þ
R ¼ 0:001707ð100QÞ1:7359 (16.7e)
where TB19v and TB37v are brightness tempera-
ture (K) at band 19 and 37 GHz, respectively;
627
SI37 is the scattering portion of the algorithm;
and RR is the rainfall rate (mm/hr). The rainfall
rates are calculated from Eq. (16.7b) when
SI37 > 5K over land. TB22v is the brightness tem-
perature at band 22 GHz (K). Q19 and Q37 are the
liquid water estimates from the 19 and 37 GHz
bands, respectively. The rainfall rates are calcu-
lated from Eq. (16.7e) when Q19 > 0.60 mm or
Q37 > 0.20. Alternatively, the Algorithm-85 is
described as follows over land

SIL ¼ 451:9  0:44TB19v  1:775TB22v
 (16.8a)
þ 0:00575TB222v  TB85v
R ¼ 0:00513SIL1:9468 (16.8b)
and over ocean

SIW ¼  174:4 þ 0:72TB19V þ 2:439TB22V

 0:00504TB222V  TB85V
(16.8c)
2:0343
R ¼ 0:00188SIW (16.8d)
where SIL is the scattering portion of the algo-
rithm over land from the brightness temperature
data at bands TB19v, TB22v, and TB85v. The rain-
fall rates are estimated from Eq. (16.8b) when
SIL > 10K for rainfall between 0.45e35 mm/h.
SIW represents the case over ocean. The rainfall
rates are calculated from Eq. (16.8d) when
SIW > 10K for rainfall between 0.20e35 mm/h.
Ground evaluation showed that the algorithm
using the Special Sensor Microwave Imager
(SSM/I) data had a retrieval error of 50% over
ocean and 75% over tropical and midlatitude
land (Ferraro, 1997).
More complex retrieval algorithms are based
on probabilistic theory (Smith et al., 1992;
Mugnai et al., 1993). The most widely applied al-
gorithm is the Goddard Profiling Algorithm
(GPROF) (Kummerow et al., 2001). This algo-
rithm requires a database of rainfall profiles
and the associated brightness temperatures.
Given a vertical distribution of hydrometeors
represented by R, the radiative transfer equation
628 16. Precipitation
can be used to determine a brightness tempera-
ture vector, Tb. A Bayesian inversion procedure
is performed to find R for a given Tb. The prob-
ability of a particular profile R for a given Tb is
Pr ðRjTbÞ ¼ PrðRÞ  Pr ðTbjRÞ (16.9)
where Pr(R) is the probability that a certain R
will be observed, and Pr(TbjR) is the probability
of observing Tb given a particular rain profile R.
The first term on the right side of the above equa-
tion can be derived using a cloud-resolving
model. The strength of the algorithm relies pri-
marily on the accuracy of the profiles in the data-
set. Validations with rain gauge and ground
radar data indicated that GPROF was biased
negatively (positively) by 9% (17%), with a corre-
lation of 0.86 (0.8) for monthly averages over the
ocean (land) (Kummerow et al., 2001).
Most existing PMW retrieval algorithms have
been optimized for specific satellite sensors.
Intercomparisons have revealed that each algo-
rithm has its own strengths and weaknesses
and that no algorithm is universally superior.
Kummerow et al. (2007) suggested the need for
a transparent, parametric algorithm to ensure
uniform rainfall products across sensors.
The PMW algorithms are limited to observa-
tions currently available from the LEO satellites,
typically two per day per satellite. The spatial
resolution of the low-frequency bands used
over the ocean is 50  50 km, and the resolution
of the high-frequency bands used over land is at
most 10  10 km.
16.3.3 Active microwave algorithms
The use of active microwave (radar) observa-
tions from space for precipitation retrieval
started in November 1997 with the launch of
the TRMM (Kummerow and Barnes, 1998),
which was the first spaceborne PR. It transmits
energy at 13.8 GHz and measures the power
reflected by the precipitation particles and
earth’s surface. It enables three-dimensional
precipitation structures over the ocean and
land to be captured (Iguchi et al., 2000).
The standard PR algorithm estimates the
vertical profiles of attenuation-corrected radar
reflectivity values and precipitation rates. The
measured apparent radar reflectivity factor
Zm(r) is related to the true effective radar reflec-
tivity factor Ze(r) by the following equations
(Iguchi et al., 2000; Iguchi, 2007):
Zm ðrÞ ¼ Zmt ðrÞ þ dZm ðrÞ (16.10)
where r is the distance from the radar to the
target and dZm ðrÞ is the measurement error in
Zm(r). Zmt(r) can be expressed as
Zmt ðrÞ ¼ Ze ðrÞAðrÞ (16.11)
AðrÞ ¼ e0:1 lnð10ÞPIAðrÞ (16.12)
where A(r) is the attenuation factor. PIA(r) is the
two-way path-integrated attenuation (PIA) in
dB. Several factors affect the PIA, which can be
described by
Z r
PIAðrÞ ¼ 2 ðkp ðsÞ þ kCLW ðsÞ þ kwv ðsÞ þ ko2 ðsÞÞds
0
(16.13)
The two-way attenuation is accounted for by
the factor 2 on the right side of this equation.
Here, kP, kCLW, kWV, and ko2 represent the attenu-
ations due to precipitation, cloud liquid water
(CLW), water vapor (WV), and molecular
oxygen, respectively.
The major attenuation comes from the precip-
itation particles and is the key to the algorithm.
The retrieval algorithm of precipitation profiles
performs classifications in two steps. First, Ze is
estimated from the measured vertical profiles
Zm, and this estimation corresponds to the atten-
uation correction. Next, the estimated Ze is
converted into the precipitation rate (R) using a
power law.
Comparisons have demonstrated that the PR
retrieval algorithms are accurate on the order
 16.3 Estimation from satellite data
of the ground-based rainfall data. Thus, they
have been widely used as true values against
which other products are compared and evalu-
ated (e.g., Aonashi et al., 2009). However, the
attenuation correction and precipitation esti-
mates are affected by uncertainties in the param-
eters (Iguchi, 2009). The major parameters
include the DSD, the phase sate of precipitation
particles, their density and shape, the precipita-
tion distribution within the PR footprint, attenu-
ation due to CLW and WV, the freezing height,
the surface scattering cross section, and fluctua-
tions of the radar echo signal. The major factors
are the phase state of the hydrometeors, the
DSD, and the precipitation temperature,
followed by the heterogeneity of the precipita-
tion distribution within the radar resolution cell
(Iguchi, 2009).
16.3.4 Multisensor algorithms
Comparative studies have shown that the
PMW algorithms are more accurate than the
VIS/IR algorithms when retrieving instanta-
neous precipitation data (Kubota et al., 2009).
However, the VIS/IR algorithms provided bet-
ter long-term retrieval due to better temporal
sampling of GEO data (e.g., Bauer and Schanz,
1998; Ebert and Manton, 1998). The combined
use of multiple sensors may alleviate the defi-
ciencies of single-sensor algorithms. In partic-
ular, the combination of active and passive
sensors could substantially improve cloud and
precipitation retrieval (Michaelides et al., 2009).
In the last two decades, many algorithms have
been proposed with different combinations of
VIS/IR, PMW, and PR data. Here, we discuss
three common multisensor algorithms.
Joyce et al. (2004) developed the Climate
Prediction Center Morphing (CMORPH) algo-
rithm, which uses motion vectors derived from
30-min interval GEO IR satellite imagery to
propagate the relatively high-quality precipita-
tion retrievals from PMW data. IR data are taken
629
from the GOES-8 and -10, the Meteosat (meteo-
rological satellite) -5 and -7, and the GMS-5.
PMW data include the TRMM Microwave
Imager (TMI), the SSM/I series, the Advanced
Microwave Sounding Unit-B (AMSU-B) series,
and the Advanced Microwave Scanning
RadiometerdEarth Observing System (AMSR-
E). The shape and intensity of precipitation are
morphed during the time between PMW sensor
scans using a linear interpolation. The process
yields spatially and temporally complete PMW
retrievals, independent of the IR brightness
temperature. Kubota et al. (2009) showed that
CMORPH achieved better results than other
multisensor algorithms in areas around Japan.
Huffman et al. (2007) proposed the TRMM
Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA)
algorithm. It provides a calibration-based
sequential scheme for combining precipitation
estimates from multiple sensors and gauge ana-
lyses at fine scales (0.25  0.25 and every
3 h). The involved sensors include the TRMM
TMI, AMSR-E, SSM/I, AMSU, Microwave
Humidity Sounders (MHS), and GEO-IR. In the
algorithm, the microwave precipitation esti-
mates are calibrated and combined. Next, IR
estimates are generated from the calibrated
microwave estimates. The two estimates are
combined subsequently. Finally, the rain gauge
data are incorporated. Overall, the TMPA shows
reasonable performance at monthly scales. At
finer scales, it reproduces the surface
observationebased histogram of precipitation.
Okamoto et al. (2005) developed the Global
Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP),
which uses various attributes of precipitation
derived from TRMM data to retrieve hydromete-
or profiles from PR, statistical rain/no-rain clas-
sification, and scattering algorithms. With
polarization-corrected temperatures (PCTs) at
37 and 85.5 GHz, the combined scattering algo-
rithms estimate surface rainfalls. For stronger
rainfalls, PCT37 is used, and for weaker rainfalls,
PCT85 is used. Monthly surface rainfall amounts
are retrieved from six microwave radiometers
630 16. Precipitation
(MWRs). GSMaP_MWR is combined with TMI,
AMSR-E, AMSR, and SSM/I (Kubota et al.,
2007). The combined GSMaP moving vector
and Kalman filter approach was proposed to
combine PWM and IR data for producing global
precipitation maps with high spatial and tempo-
ral resolutions (Aonashi et al., 2009; Ushio et al.,
2009).
Huffman et al. (2015) proposed the Integrated
Multisatellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) algo-
rithm. The algorithm combined the precipitation
estimates from the various precipitation-relevant
satellite PMW sensors and IR rainfall estimates
calibrated by MW, then gridded, and intercali-
brated to obtain half-hourly 0.1  0.1 data.
MW sensors include dual-frequency precipita-
tion radar (DPR), PR, the GPM Microwave
Imager (GMI), TMI, SSMI/SSMIS (DMSP),
AMSR-E (Aqua), AMSU (NOAA), and MHS.
IR sensors mainly include GMS, GOES, and
Meteosat. GPM-IMERG combined other
algorithms of Multisensor Precipitation Estima-
tion. As CMORPH algorithm, PMW data are
morphed using the GEO-IRebased cloud
motion vectors. Then GEO-IR estimates are
used to fill gaps using a Kalman filter when
the PMW are too sparse. Following the
PERSIANN-CCS (Hong, 2004), at the 60 NeS
latitude belt, the IR Tb image is segmented into
separable cloud patches using a watershed algo-
rithm, and then cloud patches are classified into
a number of groups using an unsupervised clus-
tering analysis. Precipitation is assigned to each
cloud patch group based on a training set of
PMW precipitation samples. These initial precip-
itation estimates are then adjusted using coeffi-
cients between matched PMW precipitation
and cloud-patch precipitation. Finally, at high
latitudes, satellite-sounding-based and experi-
mental sounding channelebased algorithms
and numerical modelebased estimates have
the potential to add value. Finally, precipitation
gauge analyses are used to adjust the satellite
estimates.
In 2007, the Program to Evaluate High-
Resolution Precipitation Products was convened
at the WMO headquarters (Turk et al., 2008).
Sapiano and Arkin (2009) intercompared five
high-resolution products including those
retrieved from the CMORPH, the TMPA, the
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) blended tech-
nique, the National Environmental Satellite, the
Data and Information Service Hydro-Estimator,
and the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely
Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Net-
works (PERSIANN) (Hong, 2004; Nguyen
et al., 2018). The results demonstrate that all
the products effectively represented high-
resolution precipitation events and adequately
reproduced the diurnal cycle of precipitation.
CMRPH and TMPA performed best among the
multisensor algorithms, with correlations as
high as 0.7. Kubota et al. (2009) compared
GSMaP, TMPA, CMORPH, PERSIANN, NRL-
blended algorithms around Japan with reference
to the radar-AMeDAS dataset. Validations
showed that GSMaP and CMORPH performed
better than the other algorithms. Overall, the
estimates were poor for light rainfall during the
warm season and for heavy rainfall.
16.4 Global and regional datasets
With the development of surface-based and
space-based instruments, many regional and
global datasets have been produced. The data-
sets provide invaluable information for studying
precipitation processes and mechanisms.
Table 16.3 summarizes the advantages and
disadvantages of major precipitation measure-
ments. Various approaches have been proposed
to overcome the limitations of given measure-
ments, such as combinations of satellite PMW
and IR data. Maggioni et al. (2016) and Sun
et al. (2018) provided an overview of the global
precipitation datasets based on satellite. Here,
we briefly introduce TRMM, GSMaP, Global
 16.4 Global and regional datasets 631
TABLE 16.3 Advantages and limitations of major precipitation measurements.

Instruments Advantages and disadvantages

Surface-based Rain gauge Point measurement, type-dependent accuracy, no ancillary information on rain type, etc.,
available, measures rain accumulation (possibly DSD), operational
Ground radar Limited volume measurement, measures possibly polarization and Doppler-spectrum,
operational, retrieval accuracy depends on rain gauge calibration
Space-based Satellite VIS/IR Available from geostationary satellite with good temporal sampling, high spatial resolution,
indirect estimates
Satellite PMW Wide-swath measurement, good calibration, TB measures sensitive to hydrometeors,
channel selection rather flexible, operational
Satellite radar Profile/narrow swath measurement, rather good calibration, measures Z, experimental

Based on Prigent, C., 2010. Precipitation retrieval from space: an overview. Compt. Rendus Geosci. 342, 380e389. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS.
All rights reserved.

Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), GPM,
and CMORPH datasets, all of which are widely
used global datasets dedicated to precipitation
monitoring.
16.4.1 Tropical Rainfall Measuring
Mission
The TRMM is a joint mission between the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) of the United States and the National
Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan.
The objective of the TRMM is to observe rainfall
and energy exchange in tropical and subtropical
regions of the world (Kummerow and Barnes,
1998). Two-thirds of all precipitation falls in the
tropics, and tropical rainfall is critical to regu-
lating the global hydrological cycle. TRMM
data are valuable for understanding, diagnosing,
and predicting global cycling mechanisms and
the El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
The TRMM was designed as an LEO satellite
stationed between 35 N and 35 S. It has
produced a wealth of detailed information on
tropical rainfall. It has a circular orbit of
350 km and an inclination angle of 35 (Kum-
merow and Barnes, 1998). The satellite includes
five scientific measuring instruments (Fig. 16.2):
the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS), PR,
the TMI, the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy
System, and the Lighting Imaging Sensor. The
first three sensors have contributed greatly to
precipitation retrieval. Table 16.4 lists the major
parameters of each instrument.
PR was the first radar designed specifically for
rainfall monitoring from space. It provides three-
dimensional rainfall structures to achieve quan-
titative rainfall measurements over land and
ocean and to improve the accuracy of TMI
measurements by providing rain structure infor-
mation. TMI is a multichannel, dual-polarized
MWR that provides data related to rainfall rates
over the oceans. The TMI data, together with the
PR data, were the primary dataset for precipita-
tion measurements. The TMI data combined
with the PR and VIRS data were also used to
derive precipitation profiles. VIRS is a passive,
cross-track scanning radiometer that measures
scene radiance in five spectral bands in the VIS
through IR spectral regions. Comparative ana-
lyses of microwave, VIS, and IR data have
enabled more precise precipitation estimates
than those possible with only VIS and IR data.
The TRMM Science and Data Information
System (TSDIS) is responsible for satellite rain
data (http://tsdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/). Fig. 16.3
shows the TRMM satellite product processing
632 16. Precipitation

flow, which includes the retrieval algorithms. V7

FIGURE 16.2 Configuration of the TRMM. Source from
http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
algorithms are currently used for processing.
The TRMM data were available starting on
December 20, 1997. The standard TRMM prod-
ucts can be classified into two groups: satellite
and ground validation (GV) products. There
are three distinct product levels. The TRMM
Level-1 products include VIRS radiance, TMI-
calibrated antenna temperature, PR power, and
reflectivity. Level-2 products contain geophys-
ical parameters and include TMI rain profiles
(2A12), PR surface cross sections (2A21), rain
and bright band heights (2A23), TPR rain
profiles (2A25), and TRMM Combined Instru-
ments (2B31). There are three TRMM level-2
surface rain rate products (2A12, 2A25, and
2B31). Level-3 and level-4 products are space-
and time-averaged products. Table 16.5 details
the products.
GV is an essential component of the TRMM.
The GV products are primarily used to support
the validation of satellite retrieval algorithms.
The selected GV radar sites include Darwin,
Australia, multiple sites in Florida, Houston,
Texas, and the TRMM Large Scale

TABLE 16.4 Major parameters of Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS), TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI), and
precipitation radar (PR).

Sensor VIRS TMI PR

Frequency/ 0.63, 1.6, 3.75, 1 Dual polarization: 10.65, 19.35, 37, 85.5 GHz; Vertical polarization: 13.8 GHz
wavelength 0.8, and 12 mm vertical: 21 GHz
Scanning Cross track Conical Cross track
mode
Ground 2.2 km (a2.4 km) 4.4 km (a5.1 km) at 85.5 GHz 4.3 km (a5.0 km) at nadir
resolution at nadir
Swath width 720 km 760 km (a878 km) 215 km (a247 km)
(a833 km)
Science Cloud parameters, Surface rain rate, rain type, distribution, and 3D rainfall distribution over both land
applications fire, pollution structure; other atmospheric and oceanic and oceans and latent heat release into
parameters the atmosphere

The TRMM satellite was boosted from an altitude of 350 km to one of 402 km in August 2001.
a
Numbers in parentheses represent postboost values.
Modified from Chiu et al., 2006
 16.4 Global and regional datasets 633

TRMM V6 Data Processing Overview

NASA-TSDIS/JAXA-EOC

VIRS TMI PR
Level-1A Level-1A Level-1A

1B01 1B11 1B21

TMI Calibrated
VIRS PR
Radiances

Antenna
Level-1

Radiances Temperatures Poewr

1C21
PR
Reflectivities

2A21 2A23
PR Rain Occurrences,
PR Surface
Instantaneous Geophysical

Storm, & Bright

Cross Section Band Height
Parameters
Level-2

2A12 2A25
TM Rainfall PR Rain and Water
Structure and Content Properties
Latent Heating

2B31
Combined
Rainfall Structure
and Latert Heating

3A25
Products
Gridded
Level-3
TRMM

3A11 3B31 3A26

5ºX 5º

TMI Monthly PR Monthly

Combined Monthly Rainfall Structure PR Monthly
Surface Rainfall Rainfall Structure Surface Rainfall
5ºX 5º & 0.5ºX 0.5º
Gridded 0.25º X0.25º Products

SSM mw 3B42
AMSUB mw Combined Instrument
TRMM & Other

AMSR mw 3-hourly Rainfall

CPC IR Calibration Courtey of TSDIS
Satellites

This diagram was updated with TRMM

Level-3

V6 reprocessing inform action provided

3A45 3B43 by the TSDIS
GPCP or Global Monthly
CAMS Rainfall
Rain Gauge

FIGURE 16.3 The TRMM standard satellite product processing flow. Courtesy of Chiu, L.S., Liu, Z., Rui, H., Teng, W.L., 2006.
Tropical rainfall measuring mission data and access tools. In: Qu, J.J., Gao, W., Kafatos, M., Murphy, R.E., Salomonson, V.V. (Eds.), Earth
Science Satellite Remote Sensing. vol. 2. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.
634 16. Precipitation

TABLE 16.5 Characteristics of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) standard satellite products.

TSDIS
reference Product name Product description

1A01 VIRS Raw Data (VIRS) Reconstructed, unprocessed VIRS (0.63, 1.6, 3.75, 10.8, and 12 mm) data
1A11 TMI Raw Data Reconstructed, unprocessed TMI (10.65, 19.35, 21, 37, and 85.5 GHz)
data
1B01 Visible and Infrared Radiance (VIRS) Calibrated VIRS (0.63, 1.6, 3.75, 10.8, and 12 mm) radiances at 2.2 km
resolution over a 720 km swath
1B11 Microwave Brightness Temperature (TMI) Calibrated TMI (10.65, 19.35, 21, 37, and 85.5 GHz) brightness
temperatures at 5e45 km resolution over a 760 km swath
1B21 Radar Power (PR) Calibrated PR (13.8 GHz) power at 4 km horizontal and 250 m vertical
resolutions over a 220 km swath

1C21 Radar Reflectivity (PR) Calibrated PR (13.8 GHz) reflectivity at 4 km horizontal and 250 m
vertical resolutions over a 220 km swath
2A12 Hydrometeor Profile(TMI) TMI Hydrometeor (cloud liquid water, precipitation water, cloud ice,
precipitation ice) profiles in 14 layers at 5 km horizontal resolution,
along with latent heat and surface rain, over a 760 km swath
2A21 Radar Surface Cross-Section (PR) PR (13.8 GHz) normalized surface cross section at 4 km horizontal
resolution and path attenuation (in case of rain), over a 220 km swath
2A23 Radar Rain Characteristics (PR) Rain type; storm, freezing, and bright band heights; from PR
(13.8 GHz) at 4 km horizontal resolution over a 220 km swath
2A25 Radar Rainfall Rate and Profile (PR) PR (13.8 GHz) rain rate, reflectivity, and attenuation profiles, at 4 km
horizontal, and 250 m vertical, resolutions, over a 220 km swath
2B31 Combined Rainfall Profile Combined PR/TMI rain rate, path-integrated attenuation, and latent
heating at 4 km horizontal and 250 m vertical resolutions, over a
220 km swath
3A11 Monthly 5  5 Oceanic Rainfall Rain rate, conditional rain rate, rain frequency, and freezing height for
a latitude band from 40 N to 40 S, from TMI
3A12 Monthly 5  5 mean 2A12, profile, and 5  5 gridded monthly product comprising the mean 2A12 data,
surface rainfall calculated vertical hydrometeor profiles, and the mean surface rainfall
3A25 Monthly 5  5 and 5  5 Spaceborne Total and conditional rain rate, radar reflectivity, path-integrated
Radar Rainfall attenuation at 2, 4, 6, 10, and 15 km for convective and stratiform rain,
storm, freezing, and bright band heights, and snoweice layer depth
for a latitude band from 40 N to 40 S, from PR

3A25 Monthly 5  5 Surface Rain Total Rain rate probability distribution at surface, 2, and 4 km for a latitude
band from 40 N to 40 S, from PR

3B31 Monthly 5  5 Combined Rainfall Rain rate, cloud liquid water, rain water, cloud ice, graupels at 14
levels for a latitude band from 40 N to 40 S, from PR and TMI
3B46 Monthly 1  1 SSM/I Rain Global rain rate from SSM/I

3B42 3B42: 3-Hour 0.25  0.25 TRMM and Calibrated geosynchronous IR rain rate using TRMM estimates
Other-GPI, Calibration Rainfall
 16.4 Global and regional datasets
TABLE 16.5 Characteristics of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) standard satellite
products.dcont'd
TSDIS
reference Product name
3B43 3B43: Monthly 0.25
 0.25 TRMM and
Other Sources Rainfall
CSH CSH: Monthly 0.5  0.5 Convective &
Stratiform Heating
Courtesy of Chiu, L.S., Liu, Z., Rui, H., Teng, W.L., 2006. Tropical rainfall measuring mission data and access tools. In: Qu, J.J., Gao, W., Kafatos, M.,
Murphy, R.E., Salomonson, V.V. (Eds.), Earth Science Satellite Remote Sensing. vol. 2. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.
Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia
(TRMM-LBA), Brazil. Characteristics of the GV
products are listed in Table 16.6.
16.4.2 Global Satellite Mapping of
Precipitation
The GSMaP project, which ran from 2002 until
March 2008, was supported by the Japan Science
and Technology Agency. Its objectives were to
create high-precision and high-resolution global
precipitation maps using data derived from
PMW radiometers, improve the precipitation
physical model and rain rate retrieval algo-
rithms, evaluate the accuracy of various GSMaP
productions, and prepare for the coming GPM.
Since 2007, the activities of the GSMaP project
have been implemented by the Precipitation
Measuring Mission Science Team of the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The GSMaP project used multiple datasets
from several sensors as inputs to retrieve rainfall
rates. The data sources include the MWR data-
sets observed from the LEO satellites and the
infrared (IR) radiometer datasets obtained from
the GEO satellites. The PMW sensors include
imagers and sounders. The available imagers
are TRMM TMI, AMSR, AMSR-E, and SSM/I.
The most recent sounder is AMSU-B. In addi-
tion, the GEO IR datasets used in the current
version of the data processing system are from
635
Product description
Merged rain rate from TRMM, geosynchronous IR, SSM/I, rain
gauges
TRMM Monthly 0.5  0.5 Convective/Stratiform Heating (it is a
TRMM experimental product)
the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) (Janowiak
et al., 2001). The spatial resolution of the data is
0.03635 (4 km at the equator). The latitude
ranges from 60 N to 60 S. The temporal resolu-
tion is approximately 30 min. Fig. 16.4 shows
the structure and flow of the GSMaP project.
Currently, the datasets produced from the
GSMaP project can be downloaded from their
website at http://sharaku.eorc.jaxa.jp/GSMaP_
crest/index.html. The standard version of the
GSMaP datasets includes GSMaP_TMI
(retrieved from TRMM/TMI algorithm),
GSMaP_MWR (retrieved from six spaceborne
MWRs), GSMaP_MWRþ (retrieved from six
spaceborne MWRs with AMSU-B products),
GSMaP_MVK (retrieved from the MWR-GEO
IR combined algorithm), GSMaP_MVKþ
(retrieved from the MWR-GEO IR combined
algorithm with AMSU-B products), and other
rainfall estimates from a PMW radiometer. The
data from 2006 were produced in a near real-
time data processing system developed and
operated at the JAXA Earth Observation
Research Center (http://sharaku.eorc.jaxa.jp/
GSMaP/index.htm). Table 16.7 details the
spatial and temporal resolution, data period,
data range, and data source of the GSMaP
datasets.
The GSMaP datasets have been compared
with rain gauge data (Kubota et al., 2007, 2009;
Aonashi et al., 2009). Overall, the validation re-
sults over the oceans were the best, and the
636 16. Precipitation

TABLE 16.6 Characteristics of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) ground validation (GV) products.

TSDIS
reference Product name Product description

1B51 Radar Reflectivity Volume scan of radar reflectivity, differential reflectivity, and mean velocity
(if available), truncated at 230 km range, at original radar resolution, coordinate,
and sampling
1C51 C51:Half-Hourlya Calibrated Volume scan of calibrated radar reflectivity and differential reflectivity
Radar Reflectivity (if available) and corresponding QC masks, truncated at 200 km range, at original
radar resolution and coordinate
2A52 Half-Hourlya Rain Existence Percent of rain in the radar volume scan
2A53 a
Half-Hourly 2 km Radar Site Instantaneous rain rate over an area of 300 km  300 km
Rain Map
2A54 Half-Hourlya 2 km Radar Site Instantaneous rain type classification (convective, stratiform) over an area of
Rain Type Map 300 km  300 km
2A55 Half-Hourlya Radar Site 3-D Instantaneous radar reflectivity and vertical profile statistics over an area of
Reflectivity 300 km  300 km, at 2 km horizontal and 1.5 km vertical resolution
2A56 1 Minute Average and Peak Time series of rain gauge rain rates over the radar site rain gauge network
Rain Gauge Rain Rate
3A53 5-Day 2 km Ground Radar Site Surface rain total from ground radar
Rain Map
3A54 Monthly 2 km Ground Radar Surface rain total from ground radar
Site Rain Map

3A55 Monthly 2 km Ground Radar Vertical profile of reflectivity and contoured frequency by altitude diagrams for
Site 3-D Rain Map stratiform, convective, and anvil rain over land and water
a
Volume scans at original radar sampling rates within half an hour of TRMM satellite coincidence.
Courtesy of Chiu, L.S., Liu, Z., Rui, H., Teng, W.L., 2006. Tropical rainfall measuring mission data and access tools. In: Qu, J.J., Gao, W., Kafatos, M.,
Murphy, R.E., Salomonson, V.V. (Eds.), Earth Science Satellite Remote Sensing. vol. 2. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.

results over mountainous regions were the
worst. The GSMaP_MVK product achieved a
score comparable with the CMORPH products
(Ushio et al., 2009). Heavy precipitation areas
over land and coasts were not easily identified,
and precipitation events with more than
10 mm/h were underestimated (Aonashi et al.,
2009). Our results show that GSMaP_MWRþ
and MVKþ underestimated precipitation over
the Poyang Lake Basin of China from January
2003 to December 2006 (Fig. 16.5). The reasons
for this discrepancy are unknown.
16.4.3 Global Precipitation Climatology
Project
Long-term series of satellite-retrieved global
precipitation are not yet available. GPCP was
established by the World Climate Research
Program in 1986. The aim of the GPCP is to
provide area- and time-averaged global precipi-
tation analysis products. The products play an
important role in understanding seasonal,
annual, and long-term global energy and water
cycle variabilities.
 16.4 Global and regional datasets 637

FIGURE 16.4 Structure and flow of the GSMaP project. Courtesy of Takahashi, N., Iguchi, T., Aonashi, K., Awaka, J., Eito, H.,
Fujita, M., Hashizume, M., Hirose, M., Inoue, T., Kashiwagi, H., Kozu, T., Satoh, S., Seto, S., Shige, S., Shimizu, S., Takayabu, Y., Oka-
moto, K., 2004. The global satellite mapping of precipitation (GSMaP) project: Part II algorithm and precipitation model development. 2nd
TRMM International Conference. September 6e10, 2004. Tokyo, Japan.

The GPCP product is a mature dataset of
merged IR and PMW retrievals and rain gauge
observations (Gruber and Levizzani, 2008). The
primary IR data sources are GOES, GMS, Meteo-
sat, and NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. The
microwave data source is the SSM/I on DMSP
satellites. The station observations are primarily
provided by the Global Precipitation Clima-
tology Centre operated by the German Weather
Service. The satellite precipitation estimates
include SSM/I emission estimates, SSM/I
scattering estimates, TOVS (TIROS Operational
Vertical Sounder)-based estimates, and GPI and
OPI precipitation indices.
The GPCP datasets include three global pre-
cipitation sub-datasets (Huffman et al., 2001;
Adler et al., 2003; Xie et al., 2003; Adler et al.,
2018): the GPCP (Version 2 and 2.3) monthly
Satellite-Gauge, the Pentad, and the One-
Degree Daily (1DD). The primary website for
the GPCP products is the WMO’s World Data
Center (http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/wmo/
wdcamet-ncdc.html) at NOAA’s National
Climatic Data Center. A backup FTP site for
the Version 2 and 1DD products is located at
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
The primary product is 2.5 Version 2 monthly
precipitation analyses for the period from 1979
638 16. Precipitation

TABLE 16.7 Status of each Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) product.

Spatial Data
Product resolution Temporal resolution Data period range Data source

GSMaP_TMI 0.25 Hourly, daily, monthly, 1998e2006 40 TRMM TMI

yearly
GSMaP_MWR 0.25 Hourly, daily, monthly, 1998e2006 60 TRMM/TMI, Aqua/AMSR-E, ADEOS-II/
yearly AMSR,
DMSP/SSMI-F10,11,13,14,15
GSMaP_MWRþ0.25 Hourly, daily, monthly 2003e06 60 TRMM/TMI, Aqua/AMSR-E, ADEOS-II/
AMSR,
DMSP/SSMI-F10,11,13,14,15 AMSU-B
GSMaP_MVK 0.1 Hourly, daily, monthly 2003e06 60 TRMM/TMI, Aqua/AMSR-E, ADEOS-II/
AMSR,
DMSP/SSMI-F13,14,15 GOES-8/10,
Meteosat-7/5, GMS
GSMaP_MVKþ 0.1 Hourly, daily, monthly 2003e06 60 TRMM/TMI, Aqua/AMSR-E, ADEOS-II/
AMSR,
DMSP/SSMI-F13,14,15, NOAA/AMSU-B
GOES-8/10, Meteosat-7/5, GMS
GSMaP_NRT 0.25 Hourly, daily, monthly 2007epresent 60 TRMM/TMI, Aqua/AMSR-E,
DMSP/SSMI-F13,14,15, NOAA/AMSU-B
GOES-8/10, Meteosat-7/5, GMS, MTSAT

to the present. Both the Pentad and the 1DD
products are constrained by monthly analyses.
The 1DD dataset was produced on a resolution
of 1 from January 1997 to the present. This data-
set shows flexibility in computing time and
spatial averages. The pentad precipitation
analyses are 2.5  2.5 analyses from 1979 to
the present and use the pentad CMAP (CPC
Merged Analysis of Precipitation) estimates.
The pentad CMAP merges the IR-based GPI,
the SSM/I scattering-based ALG85, the SSM/I
emission-based algorithm, the MSU-based
method, the OLR-based OPI, and the gauge-
based analyses.
Gruber and Levizzani (2008) provided an
extensive assessment of the GPCP datasets,
which have been applied in global change
studies. However, the GPCP still faces chal-
lenges. Major issues include determining precip-
itation over the open ocean, determining solid
precipitation, and accurately estimating precipi-
tation in complex terrain areas.
16.4.4 Global Precipitation
Measurement
The GPM is a joint mission between the
NASA of the United States, the NASDA of
Japan, and other international institutes. The
objective of the GPM is to improve the global
rainfall estimation and advance scientific under-
standing of the earth’s water and energy cycle.
The GPM, an outgrowth of TRMM, have the
capability to provide physically based retrievals
on a global basis with higher resolution and
accuracy. It is able to observe weak rainfall
(0.5 mm/h) and solid precipitation whose obser-
vations are significant in regions in mid- and
high-latitudes and mountainous areas.
 (A) (B)

16.4 Global and regional datasets

FIGURE 16.5 Rain gaugeebased monthly measurements for (A) GSMaP MWRþ and (B) MVKþ datasets over the Poyang Lake Basin of China from
January 2003 until December 2006.

639
640 16. Precipitation
TABLE 16.8 Major parameters of GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR).
Sensor TMI
Frequency/ Dual polarization: 10.65, 18.7, 36.64, 89.0, 166.0 GHz;
wavelength Vertical: 23.8, 183.31  3, 183.31  7 GHz
Scanning mode Conical
Ground 3.4 km at 183.31 GHz
resolution
Swath width 904 km
Science Surface rain rate, rain type, distribution, and
applications structure; other atmospheric and oceanic parameters
GPM Core Observatory (GPMCO) is the heart
of the GPM constellation. The GPMCO was
designed as an LEO satellite stationed between
65 N and 65 S. It has a circular orbit of 407 km
and an inclination angle of 65 (Smith et al.,
2007). The satellite includes two scientific
measuring instruments: DPR and GMI. The
two sensors have contributed greatly to improve
precipitation retrieval. Table 16.8 lists the major
parameters of each instrument.
DPR was the first dual-frequency radar specif-
ically for rainfall monitoring from space.
Similarly to the TRMM, it provides three-
dimensional rainfall structures to achieve quan-
titative rainfall measurements. GMI is a
dual-polarized MWR with more multichannels.
The GMI data combined with the DPR is able
to derive precipitation profiles in higher latitude.
GPM dataset were available starting on
March 2014 (https://pmm.nasa.gov/data-
access/downloads/gpm). The standard GPM
products can be classified into two groups: satel-
lite and GV products. There are three distinct
product levels. The GPM Level-1 products
include GMI-calibrated antenna temperature,
DPR power, and reflectivity. Level-2 products
contain surface cross sections, DPR rain profiles,
and rain rate based on Level-1 products. Level-3
products are space- and time-averaged global
products based on Level-2 products. Table 16.5
details the products.
PR
Vertical polarization: 13.8 GHz
Cross track
5.0 km at nadir
245 km
3D rainfall distribution over both land and
oceans, and latent heat release into the
atmosphere
GSFC is responsible for management of GPM
Validation Network (GV). GV started on August
8, 2006. The VN database includes TRMM PR
data and coincident ground radar operational
meteorological networks. Validation areas are
same as TRMM. VN products are processed by
VN software (online at http://www.ittvis.
com), and the processes include data ingest
and preprocessing, the resampling of PR and
GR, and the statistical analysis and display of
the matching data volumes (Schwaller and
Morris, 2011).
16.4.5 Climate Prediction Center
Morphing
CPC of the NOAA is responsible for
CMORPH products. CMORPH dataset were
available starting from December 2012 to
October 2017 between 60 N and 60 S. CMORPH
includes 0.07  0.07 , 0.5 h, and 0.25  0.25 ,
three hourly products (available at https://
climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/
cmorph-cpc-morphing-technique-high-
resolution-precipitation-60s-60n). CMORPH
first used cloud motion vectors derived from
GEO IR satellite imagery to propagate the
precipitation retrievals from PMW data.
Many studies evaluated and compared
CMORPH with other satellite precipitation
 16.5 Global precipitation climatology
products, such as TRMM 3B42 and GSMap
(Sapiano and Arkin, 2009; Dinku et al., 2010;
Kidd et al., 2012; Li et al., 2013). The results
show that CMORPH performed relatively poor
over wintery, complex land surfaces with light
precipitation. Generally, CMORPH underesti-
mated a rainfall of 6.5e1.4 mm/day.
16.5 Global precipitation climatology
With the aid from satellite remote sensing
systems, spatial and temporal variations of
precipitation can be predicted at various scales.
Because the GPCP dataset spans 25 years, it is
commonly used in climatological studies. Here,
we illustrate the global precipitation climatology
derived from this dataset.
Fig. 16.6 shows the mean annual precipitation
produced with the GPCP dataset for the period
from 1979 to 2003. The highest annual precipita-
tion levels occurred in the western tropical
Pacific, the eastern Pacific Intertropical
641
Convergence Zone area, with expansions into
the Amazon, and over the extreme eastern trop-
ical Indian Ocean. Two high-precipitation zones
were identified along the eastern coastal regions
of Asia and North America, coinciding with the
midlatitude storm tracks associated with the
Kuroshio and Gulf Stream currents. In the south-
ern hemisphere, the South Atlantic Convergence
Zone displayed local precipitation maxima that
extended southeastward from southern Brazil
and the South Pacific Convergence Zone to
New Guinea.
Fig. 16.7 shows the zonal mean precipitation
generated from GPCP datasets for land, ocean,
and the globe over the period 1979e2003. The
mean global ocean precipitation levels had
off-equatorial maxima and relative minima on
the equator, reflecting the mean position of the
convergence zones in tropics. In contrast, the
zonal mean values of the land-only zonal had a
single maximum centered on the equator. The
zonal mean profiles of both hemispheres in
both the ocean- and land-only datasets had

Mean Annual GPCP Precipitation (mm/day)

60N

30N

EQ

30S

60S

60E 120E 180 120W 60W 0 60E

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

FIGURE 16.6 Mean annual GPCP precipitation for the period 1979e2003. Courtesy of Gruber, A., Levizzani, V., 2008. Assess-
ment of global precipitation products. WCRP Series Report No. 128 and WMO TD-No.1430, 1e55.
642 16. Precipitation

8 maxima in the midlatitudes, reflecting the mean

position of the storm tracks.
7 OCEAN
Precipitation Rate (mm/day)

At a seasonal scale, the mean precipitation

6 LAND
rate appeared to be highest in the near-
TOTAL
5 equatorial tropical belt for all months of the
year (Fig. 16.8). From January to March, the
4
precipitation maximum occurred in the southern
3 hemisphere. From May to early September, the
2 most intense precipitation was in the northern
hemisphere. Low precipitation rates in the
1
tropics and subtropics were centered at approx-
0 imately 20 N from January to April and approx-
90 N 70 50 30 10 10 30 50 70 90 S
imately 15 S from June to September.
FIGURE 16.7 Zonal mean of GPCP precipitation for land Fig. 16.9 shows the variations of monthly
(dashed line), ocean (dotted line), and globe (solid line) over the precipitation for land (green line), the oceans
period 1979e2003. Courtesy of Gruber, A., Levizzani, V., 2008. (blue line), and the globe (black line) over the
Assessment of global precipitation products. WCRP Series Report
No. 128 and WMO TD-No.1430, 1e55.
period 1979e2003. The precipitation rate was

FIGURE 16.8 Annual cycle of zonal precipitation (mm/day) averaged over the period 1979e2003. Courtesy of Gruber, A.,
Levizzani, V., 2008. Assessment of global precipitation products. WCRP Series Report No. 128 and WMO TD-No.1430, 1e55.
 16.6 Summary 643
3.5

OCEAN
LAND
TOTAL

3.0
Precipitation Rate (mm/day)

2.5

2.0

1.5
79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03

FIGURE 16.9 Monthly precipitation for land (green), ocean (blue), and globe (black) over the period 1979e2003. Heavy lines
indicate 12-month running means. Courtesy of Gruber, A., Levizzani, V., 2008. Assessment of global precipitation products. WCRP
Series Report No. 128 and WMO TD-No.1430, 1e55.

higher over the ocean than over the land by
approximately 1 mm/day. The land series had
larger variations than the ocean, even for the
12-month running mean values. The global total
time series were produced by combining the
land and ocean precipitation values.
The temporal variations of monthly precipita-
tion may be relevant to the ENSO, which is a
quasiperiodic climate pattern characterized by
roughly 5-year variations in the surface temper-
ature of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.
ENSO is often described with the Ni~ no-3.4 sea
surface temperature (SST) index. Fig. 16.10
shows the total (top), ocean (middle), and land
(bottom) tropical (30 Ne30 S) averages of
monthly precipitation anomalies. The mean
tropical precipitation showed month-to-month
variabilities generally within 0.2 mm/day.
The 12-month running mean of global precipita-
tion had a low amplitude of less than 0.1 mm/
day and a low-frequency (2e3 years) variability.
However, no significant relationship between
ENSO and global precipitation anomalies was
observed. Two major volcanic eruptions,
El Chichon and Mt. Pinatubo, did not signifi-
cantly influence the anomalies. Conversely, a
significant relationship between the precipita-
tion anomalies and the Ni~no-3.4 SST index over
the oceans or land for both dry and wet condi-
tions was observed. The relationship was strong
especially in 1986/87 and 1997/98, two largest
ENSO events of the 20th century.
16.6 Summary
Precipitation includes rainfall and snowfall,
which are fundamental process in the global wa-
ter cycle. It has a high degree of spatiotemporal
variability, highly nonnormal in behavior. The
644 16. Precipitation

0.6 3
0.4 TOTAL 2

mm day-1
0.2 1

ºC
-0.0 0
-0.2 –1
-0.4 El Chichon Pinatubo –2
St. Helens
-0.6 –3
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03
0.6 3
0.4 2
OCEAN
mm day-1

0.2 1

ºC
-0.0 0
-0.2 –1
-0.4 St. Helens El Chichon Pinatubo –2
-0.6 –3
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03
0.6 3
Pinatubo
0.4 2
mm day-1

0.2 1

ºC
-0.0 0
-0.2 –1
-0.4 St. HelensEl Chichon LAND –2
-0.6 –3
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

FIGURE 16.10 Tropical (30 N-30 S) averages of monthly precipitation anomalies (mm/day) for total (top), ocean (mid-
dle), and land (bottom). Vertical dashed lines indicate months with significant volcanic eruptions. The thin black curves are
the Ni~no-3.4 SST index ( C). Heavy lines are 12-month running means. Courtesy of Gruber, A., Levizzani, V., 2008. Assessment
of global precipitation products. WCRP Series Report No. 128 and WMO TD-No.1430, 1e55.

spaceetime structure of precipitation produces Fast development of space-based instruments

top-down effects on numerous hydrologic
processes. Many rain gauge networks and
ground-based and space-borne radar techniques
have been developed to capture spatial and
temporal features of precipitation.
Since 1970s, tens of satellite retrieval algo-
rithms have been proposed on a basis of satellite
observation from meteorological sensors and PR.
The algorithms use VIS/IR, PMW, active micro-
wave data, or various combinations of these
technologies. The GPI algorithm is the most
commonly used VIS/IR algorithm. The Ferraro
and the GPROF algorithms are the most
commonly used PWV algorithms. Combination
of active and passive sensors substantially
improved cloud and precipitation retrieval and
was particularly welcomed in the last two
decades.
and retrieval approaches fosters to produce
many regional and global precipitation datasets.
The TRMM, GSMaP, and GPCP datasets are
well-known examples of global long-term series
precipitation datasets. The global datasets
provide invaluable information for studying
precipitation processes and mechanisms at
regional and global scales.
Global warming and climate change are likely
to continue, necessitating a comprehensive
understanding of global precipitation for the
sustainable development of our changing earth.
In addition to surface-based instruments,
space-based observations, especially those that
use information from the TRMM, have advanced
our spatial and temporal understandings of
precipitation intensity. As an international effort,
the GPM launch in 2014 extends the TRMM
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globe. The International Precipitation Working
Group is focusing on satellite-based quantitative
precipitation measurements. With the interna-
tional efforts, we are approaching an important
juncture for the retrieval of global precipitation
information from multiple sensors.
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