Dryland precipitation climatology from satellite observations

Abstract

Dryland regions cover a wide portion of the Earth’s land area. However, an accurate climatic characterization of precipitation properties is lacking due to the limited ground monitoring systems typical of these regions. Precipitation estimation from satellite observations provides the opportunity to improve our knowledge of precipitation climatology in these regions. In this chapter, we summarize the current research utilizing and assessing satellite precipitation estimates in the drylands, and we conduct a quasi-global analysis of dryland precipitation climatology based on the TRMM (TMPA) data set, with the aim of highlighting potential and limitations of satellite estimates for such areas. Distinct climatological features are observed over regions characterized by different levels of aridity. Dryer areas are associated with smaller yearly precipitation amounts and larger coefficient of variation, lower number of rainy days, heavier tail of the distribution of the extremes, smaller fraction of rainy area and shorter correlation distance. We conclude providing some recommendations for future applications on dryland precipitation estimates and climatology based on satellite products.