NASA Power’s: an alternative rainfall data resources for hydrology research and planning activities in Bali Island, Indonesia

Abstract

Rainfall data is critical for planning and research in the field of hydrology. Rainfall data must be available continuously, which means it must be recorded continuously. This recording will continue since numerous projects in the field of hydrology require continuous rainfall data. Although rainfall data are collected and recorded daily, some stations frequently have insufficient rainfall records, particularly in developing countries such as Bali, Indonesia. These issues may impair the quality of rainfall data, resulting in inaccuracies in the analysis results. To address this issue, we need a reliable source of rainfall data, one of which is NASA Power, which provides rainfall data for free. NASA Power rainfall data is then compared to observed rainfall data. The comparison of the two rainfalls is measured by a statistical parameter, namely the correlation coefficient. Based on the comparison between lowland and highland areas, the average daily rainfall from NASA Power tends to be lower than the average daily rainfall from observation stations. Meanwhile, from the correlation coefficient value (r) of the comparison of rainfall observations and NASA Power, a considerably high correlation coefficient value (> 0.7) was observed. Thus, it can be suggested that the rainfall data from NASA Power for hydrology research and planning activities in Bali Island, Indonesia.