Study on watershed hydrologic processes using TRMM satellite precipitation radar products

The objective of this study focuses on the application of the TRMM(Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission)satellite precipitation radar data in the simulation of the land surface hydrologic processes and the evaluation of its performance in hydrologic simulation and forecast. The quality of the TRMM 3B42 rainfall data is validated with the gauged rainfall data in a 32 year period. Forced by the gauged and TRMM 3B42 rainfall data,two continuous hydrologic simulation cases are conducted to analyze the temporal variability and the spatial distribution of the hydrologic process in Huaihe River basin from 1998 to 2003. The analyses show that the TRMM rainfall is comparable to the gauged rainfall data in the hydrologic study. The simulated streamflow hydrograph with the TRMM rainfall is also consistent with the observed one at Bengbu station. Results indicate that the satellite radar rainfall has a promising prospect in the study of the land surface hydrologic processes.