Validating the intrinsic uncertainty: Implications for hydrologic applications
Files
Date
2021
Authors
Kirstetter, Pierre-Emmanuel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World Climate Research Programme
Abstract
The critical importance of accurate water flux estimates for science and applications explains the large body of verification analyses focusing on precipitation estimates. Very few are implemented at the relevant scales to address the intrinsic uncertainty of precipitation products. This endeavor requires the expert use of other precipitation sensors such as radar-gauge combinations. The intrinsic uncertainty structure of satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates is still largely unknown at the spatiotemporal scales near the sensor measurement scale. Without relevant information on key uncertainty features, applications making use of satellite Level-3 precipitation products are impacted both in terms of outcomes and physical realism. Ultimately, it requires more than just one deterministic “best estimate” to adequately cope with the intermittent, highly-skewed distribution that characterizes precipitation. Advancing the use of uncertainty as an integral part of the relationship between sensor measurements and precipitation estimates has the potential to provide a framework for diagnosing intrinsic uncertainty.
Description
DOI: 10.13021/gewex.precip.1.2
Keywords
Precipitation products, Uncertainty, Hydrologic applications, Validation, Probabilistic Quantitative Precipitation Estimation
Citation
Kirstetter, P.-E., 2021: Validating the intrinsic uncertainty: Implications for hydrologic applications, in The Joint IPWG/GEWEX Precipitation Assessment (ed. R. Roca), WCRP Report 2/2021, World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), Geneva, Switzerland.