Verification of GPCP-1DD global satellite precipitation products using MAPsurface observations

Daily satellite precipitation estimates have become available for the first time by the Global Precipitation Climatology Project. The experimental ver sion of the GPCP-1DD product, recently launched and available from NASA, pr ovides the research community with 1 degree daily precipitation fields excl usively computed from satellite measurements. These comprise IR estimates f rom geostationary satellites and SSM/I data in the tropics as well as TOVS data from polar orbiting satellites at higher latitudes. The purpose of the present study is to verify the TOVS based GPCP-1DD rain fates over Central Europe with the surface precipitation measured with the dense rain gauge n etwork operated during The Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP), 3 100 high qua lity daily rain gauge measurements during June/July 1997 have been objectiv ely analyzed on the grid of the GPCP-1DD products. Verification results are given here in terms of difference fields (mean error= -0.59 mm/day), corre lation coefficients (mean monthly value =0.57) as well as accuracy scores ( probability of detection=0.6, false alarm ratio=8.2) and skill scores (true skill statistics=0.36). These scores are slightly inferior than those know n from NWP model verifications. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.