SATELLITE ESTIMATION OF PRECIPITATION OVER LAND

The availability of satellite-derived rainfall products to hydrologist s and other natural scientists has increased enormously in the last fi ve years. The purpose of this paper is to review concisely the current state-of-the-art of satellite precipitation estimation over land and the availability of standard products, and to highlight some of the st rengths and limitations of satellite-derived rainfall data for hydrolo gical applications. Methods based on infrared, visible and passive mic rowave radiation measurements are discussed. Results of several intern ational activities aimed at evaluating the performance of the estimati on algorithms are briefly summarized.