INTERNATIONAL PRECIPITATION WORKING GROUP (IPWG): INTER-COMPARISON OF REGIONAL PRECIPITATION PRODUCTS

The International Precipitation Working Group (IPWG) supports the inter-comparison of precipitation products, with the verification/validation of products over selected regions against quality controlled surface radar and gauge networks. Results of comparisons between satellite, model and surface data sets are provided at daily time scales and spatial scales of 0.25 degrees. These results aim to provide both the algorithm/product developers and the user community with information on the performance of the techniques and their suitability for certain applications, such as hydrological modelling. This paper will present the results of inter-comparisons between different satellite and model rainfall estimates, particularly focusing on the region covered by the Meteosat satellite sensors. A range of techniques, ranging from single sensor infrared or microwave algorithms through to multi-sensor/multi-satellite algorithms will be compared. In particular, the usefulness of the infrared/microwave blended techniques will be evaluated: these include the NOAA/CPC CMORPH technique, the EUEMESAT Multi-sensor Precipitation Estimate (MPE) and the NRL IR-Microwave blended technique. 1