Statistical and hydrological evaluation of precipitation estimates and simulations from the remote sensing technologies and WRF modeling over the Peruvian Andes region

Abstract

<p>Peruvian Andes region has been proven in multiple studies to be one of a few regions have poor performance of many global precipitation estimations, due to its complex terrain and extreme interruption of atmospheric movement by the Andes mountain. This study provides an evaluation over two Peruvian local precipitation products PISCO and RAIN4PE, along with a regional dynamic downscaled WRF model simulation, and GPM-IMERG. The precipitation products were evaluated against local rain gauge data and used as the forcing data for CREST-VEC model to test the uncertainties of the precipitation products in a extremely dry region in Peru. This study readdress the accuracy issue of precipitation products in the Peruvian Andes region, and highlights the importance of using WRF modeling simulation to ‘fill-the-blank’ of heterogenous rain gauge distribution, when remote-sensing technologies fail to perform in this area.</p>