Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia
Satellite-based precipitation estimates and global reanalysis products bear the promise of supporting the development of accurate and timely climate information for end users in sub-Sharan Africa. The accuracy of these global models, however, may be reduced in data-scarce regions and should be caref...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Springer
2024
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152109 |
| _version_ | 1855531269811601408 |
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| author | Ahmed, Jemal Seid Buizza, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Matteo Demissie, Teferi Pè, Mario Enrico |
| author_browse | Ahmed, Jemal Seid Buizza, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Matteo Demissie, Teferi Pè, Mario Enrico |
| author_facet | Ahmed, Jemal Seid Buizza, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Matteo Demissie, Teferi Pè, Mario Enrico |
| author_sort | Ahmed, Jemal Seid |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Satellite-based precipitation estimates and global reanalysis products bear the promise of supporting the development of accurate and timely climate information for end users in sub-Sharan Africa. The accuracy of these global models, however, may be reduced in data-scarce regions and should be carefully evaluated. This study evaluates the performance of ERA5 reanalysis data and CHIRPS precipitation data against ground-based measurements from 167 rain gauges in Ethiopia, a region with complex topography and diverse climates. Focusing over a 38-year period (1981–2018), our study utilizes a point-to-pixel analysis to compare daily, monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation data, conducting an evaluation based on continuous and categorical metrics. Our findings indicate that over Ethiopia CHIRPS generally outperforms ERA5, particularly in high-altitude areas, demonstrating a better capability in detecting high-intensity rainfall events. Both datasets, however, exhibit lower performance in Ethiopia's lowland regions, possibly the influence of sparse rain gauge networks informing gridded datasets. Notably, both CHIRPS and ERA5 were found to underestimate rainfall variability, with CHIRPS displaying a slight advantage in representing the erratic nature of Ethiopian rainfall. The study’s results highlight considerable performance differences between CHIRPS and ERA5 across varying Ethiopian landscapes and climatic conditions. CHIRPS’ effectiveness in high-altitude regions, especially for daily rainfall estimation, emphasizes its suitability in similar geographic contexts. Conversely, the lesser performance of ERA5 in these areas suggests a need for refined calibration and validation processes, particularly for complex terrains. These insights are essential for the application of satellite-based and reanalysis of rainfall data in meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological contexts, particularly in topographically and climatically diverse regions. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace152109 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer |
| publisherStr | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1521092025-01-27T15:00:52Z Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia Ahmed, Jemal Seid Buizza, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Matteo Demissie, Teferi Pè, Mario Enrico development climate models evaluation data rain analysis information precipitation networks rainfall estimation calibration performance products lowland application processes datasets landscapes topography satellite climate information altitude accuracy Satellite-based precipitation estimates and global reanalysis products bear the promise of supporting the development of accurate and timely climate information for end users in sub-Sharan Africa. The accuracy of these global models, however, may be reduced in data-scarce regions and should be carefully evaluated. This study evaluates the performance of ERA5 reanalysis data and CHIRPS precipitation data against ground-based measurements from 167 rain gauges in Ethiopia, a region with complex topography and diverse climates. Focusing over a 38-year period (1981–2018), our study utilizes a point-to-pixel analysis to compare daily, monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation data, conducting an evaluation based on continuous and categorical metrics. Our findings indicate that over Ethiopia CHIRPS generally outperforms ERA5, particularly in high-altitude areas, demonstrating a better capability in detecting high-intensity rainfall events. Both datasets, however, exhibit lower performance in Ethiopia's lowland regions, possibly the influence of sparse rain gauge networks informing gridded datasets. Notably, both CHIRPS and ERA5 were found to underestimate rainfall variability, with CHIRPS displaying a slight advantage in representing the erratic nature of Ethiopian rainfall. The study’s results highlight considerable performance differences between CHIRPS and ERA5 across varying Ethiopian landscapes and climatic conditions. CHIRPS’ effectiveness in high-altitude regions, especially for daily rainfall estimation, emphasizes its suitability in similar geographic contexts. Conversely, the lesser performance of ERA5 in these areas suggests a need for refined calibration and validation processes, particularly for complex terrains. These insights are essential for the application of satellite-based and reanalysis of rainfall data in meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological contexts, particularly in topographically and climatically diverse regions. 2024-05 2024-09-11T09:26:00Z 2024-09-11T09:26:00Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152109 en Open Access Springer Ahmed, J. S., Buizza, R., Dell– Acqua, M., Demissie, T., & Pè, M. E. (2024). Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, 136(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-024-01008-0 |
| spellingShingle | development climate models evaluation data rain analysis information precipitation networks rainfall estimation calibration performance products lowland application processes datasets landscapes topography satellite climate information altitude accuracy Ahmed, Jemal Seid Buizza, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Matteo Demissie, Teferi Pè, Mario Enrico Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title | Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title_full | Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title_short | Evaluation of ERA5 and CHIRPS rainfall estimates against observations across Ethiopia |
| title_sort | evaluation of era5 and chirps rainfall estimates against observations across ethiopia |
| topic | development climate models evaluation data rain analysis information precipitation networks rainfall estimation calibration performance products lowland application processes datasets landscapes topography satellite climate information altitude accuracy |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152109 |
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