@article{8fa7bc0dbc1c4f3c9e9a46bfdea8097d,
title = "Comparative analysis of TMPA and IMERG precipitation datasets in the arid environment of El-Qaa plain, Sinai",
abstract = "The replenishment of aquifers depends mainly on precipitation rates, which is of vital importance for determining water budgets in arid and semi-arid regions. El-Qaa Plain in the Sinai Peninsula is a region that experiences constant population growth. This study compares the performance of two sets of satellite-based data of precipitation and in situ rainfall measurements. The dates selected refer to rainfall events between 2015 and 2018. For this purpose, 0.1◦ and 0.25◦ spatial resolution TMPA (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis) and IMERG (Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement) data were retrieved and analyzed, employing appropriate statistical metrics. The best-performing data set was determined as the data source capable to most accurately bridge gaps in the limited rain gauge records, embracing both frequent light-intensity rain events and more rare heavy-intensity events. With light-intensity events, the corresponding satellite-based data sets differ the least and correlate more, while the greatest differences and weakest correlations are noted for the heavy-intensity events. The satellite-based records best match those of the rain gauges during light-intensity events, when compared to the heaviest ones. IMERG data exhibit a superior performance than TMPA in all rainfall intensities.",
keywords = "Arid areas, GPM, Precipitation, Sinai, Stressed aquifers, TRMM",
author = "Mona Morsy and Thomas Scholten and Silas Michaelides and Erik Borg and Youssef Sherief and Peter Dietrich",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, the T{\"u}bingen University, Germany, and the Suez Canal University, Egypt. The authors wish to acknowledge that the provision of the TMPA and IMERG data by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center{\textquoteright}s Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory and Precipitation Processing Center, which developed and computed them as a contribution to TRMM and GPM, respectively. Silas Michaelides was supported by the EXCELSIOR project (www.excelsior2020.eu (accessed on 4 February 2021)) that has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement no. 857510, as well as matching co-funding by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for the European Programmes, Coordination, and Development. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers whose insightful and constructive comments and suggestions have led to improvements of the paper. Funding Information: This work was supported by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, the T?bingen University, Germany, and the Suez Canal University, Egypt. The authors wish to acknowledge that the provision of the TMPA and IMERG data by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center?s Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory and Precipitation Processing Center, which developed and computed them as a contribution to TRMM and GPM, respectively. Silas Michaelides was supported by the EXCELSIOR project (www.excelsior2020.eu (accessed on 4 February 2021)) that has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement no. 857510, as well as matching co-funding by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for the European Programmes, Coordination, and Development. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers whose insightful and constructive comments and suggestions have led to improvements of the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2021",
month = feb,
day = "2",
doi = "10.3390/rs13040588",
language = "English",
volume = "13",
pages = "1--19",
journal = "Remote Sensing",
issn = "2072-4292",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "4",
}