Evaluation of the global hourly precipitation frequency in ERA5 using multiple satellite datasets
The newly released ERA5 reanalysis dataset by the ECMWF provides hourly precipitation reanalysis values,adding another reference for global hourly precipitation research.However,current evaluations of ERA5 hourly precipitation are limited,focusing more on monthly and daily precipitation assessments or hourly precipita-tion within restricted areas.Few studies address global-scale assessments of hourly precipitation.Motivated by this gap,we assess the global hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5.Sparse station-observed hourly precipitation data,particularly over open oceanic and remote inland areas,lim-its its usefulness for global-scale assessment of ERA5 reanalysis precipitation data,despite its presumed accuracy over satellite estimates or precipitation reanalysis data.Consequently,we employ four satellite datasets-GPM,GS-MaP-M,GSMaP-G,and CMORPH-to evaluate hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5 in this study.We analyze the spatial distribution of climatological annual total precipitation and precipitation frequency in ERA5 and the four satellite datasets.Additionally,we examine the error sources of hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5 by e-venly dividing precipitation events from the 5 datasets into ten intensity bins based on the hourly precipitation in-tensity percentiles.We then compare precipitation frequency differences among different regions,including tropical and extra-tropical areas,as well as marine and land areas.The main findings are as follows:1)the magnitude and spatial pattern of climatological annual total precipi-tation of ERA5 close align with the four satellite datasets,indicating ERA5 effectively represents total precipitati-on.2)The climatological hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5 is 2-3 times higher than that of satellite data,suggesting a systematic error in the hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5 compared to satellite estimates,or an overestimation of average precipitation frequency of ERA5.3)The overall overestimation of hourly precipitation frequency of ERA5 mainly stems from an abnormal overestimation of moderate and light precipitation frequencies.Notably,ERA5's global average for the lightest hourly precipitation(0-10％)is approximately 6 times higher than that observed in satellite estimations.4)ERA5 underestimates the frequency of extreme hourly precipitation compared to satellite estimations.5)In addition,oceanic overestimation is generally greater than that on land,with slightly stronger overestimation in the tropical region compared to the extratropical region.Although ERA5 systematically overestimates hourly precipitation frequency,its spatial pattern remains close to satellite estimates.The potential impact of this systematic overestimation in ERA5 on related research warrants further evaluation.
万方数据
维普
