Satellite-based precipitation estimates with high quality and spatial-temporal resolutions play a vital role in forcing global or regional meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural models, which are especially useful over large poorly gauged regions. In this study, we apply various statistical indicators to comprehensively analyze the quality and compare the performance of five newly released satellite and reanalysis precipitation products against China Merged Precipitation Analysis (CMPA) rain gauge data, respectively, with 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution and two temporal scales (daily and hourly) over southern China from June to August in 2019. These include Precipitation Estimates from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS), European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 (ERA5-Land), Fengyun-4 (FY-4A), Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP), and Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG). Results indicate that: (1) all five products overestimate the accumulated rainfall in the summer, with FY-4A being the most severe; additionally, FY-4A cannot capture the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of precipitation over southern China. (2) IMERG and GSMaP perform better than the other three datasets at both daily and hourly scales; IMERG correlates slightly better than GSMaP against CMPA data, while it performs worse than GSMaP in terms of probability of detection (POD). (3) ERA5-Land performs better than PERSIANN-CCS and FY-4A at daily scale but shows the worst correlation coefficient (CC), false alarm ratio (FAR), and equitable threat score (ETS) of all precipitation products at hourly scale. (4) The rankings of overall performance on precipitation estimations for this region are IMERG, GSMaP, ERA5-Land, PERSIANN-CCS, and FY-4A at daily scale; and IMERG, GSMaP, PERSIANN-CCS, FY-4A, and ERA5-Land at hourly scale. These findings will provide valuable feedback for improving the current satellite-based precipitation retrieval algorithms and also provide preliminary references for flood forecasting and natural disaster early warning.

Obtaining accurate precipitation data in mountainous regions is important but challenging. In ungauged areas, remotely sensed precipitation products are useful supplements and alternatives to measured precipitation products. However, their ability to detect solid precipitation and light precipitation in mountain areas is still unclear. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate two satellite precipitation products, Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) and Tropical Precipitation Measuring Mission (TRMM), in the headwaters of an inland river on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (the Heihe river basin), with a specific focus on their performance regarding light precipitation and solid precipitation. The achieved results reveal that both GPM and TRMM perform poorly over the Heihe river basin, with low Correlation Coefficient value and Critical Success Index value, particularly in winter. Based on the coupled Time-Variant Gain Model-Degree Day Factor Model (TVGM-DDF) initiated in this paper, the GPM is more applicable in terms of running hydrological models. With the aim of detecting solid precipitation, the GPM is more capable of detecting solid precipitation but still unsatisfactory at two stations. In the case of light precipitation, both products underestimate light precipitation. In general, the performance of the two products in the Heihe river basin is not satisfactory and should be enhanced in upcoming explorations. This study provides a strong foundation for choosing alternate precipitation data for related research in the mountain basin.

This study presents a framework to attribute river runoff variations to the combined effects of reservoir operations, land surface changes, and climate variability. We delineated the data into natural and impacted periods. For the natural period, an integrated Long Short-Term Memory and Random Forest model was developed to accurately simulate both mean and extreme runoff values, outperforming existing models. This model was then used to estimate runoff unaffected by human activities in the impacted period. Our findings indicate stable annual and wet season mean runoff, with a decrease in wet season maximums and an increase in dry season means, while extreme values remained largely unchanged. A Budyko framework incorporating reconstructed runoff revealed that rainfall and land surface changes are the predominant factors influencing runoff variations in wet and dry seasons, respectively, and land surface impacts become more pronounced during the impacted period for both seasons. Human activities dominate dry season runoff variation (93.9%), with climate change at 6.1%, while in the wet season, the split is 64.5% to 35.5%. Climate change and human activities have spontaneously led to reduced runoff during the wet season and increased runoff during the dry season. Only reservoir regulation is found to be linked to human-induced runoff changes, while the effects of land surface changes remain ambiguous. These insights underscore the growing influence of anthropogenic factors on hydrological extremes and quantify the role of reservoirs within the impacts of human activities on runoff.

The development of high-precision, long-term, hourly-scale precipitation data is essential for understanding extreme precipitation events. Reanalysis systems are particularly promising for this type of research due to their long-term observations and wide spatial coverage. This study aims to construct a more robust precipitation dataset by integrating three widely-used reanalysis precipitation estimates: Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA2), Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). A novel integration method based on the generalized three-cornered hat (TCH) approach is employed to quantify uncertainties in these products. To enhance accuracy, the high-density daily precipitation data from the Asian Precipitation-Highly-Resolved Observation Data Integration Towards Evaluation (APHRODITE) dataset is used for correction. Results show that the TCH method effectively identifies seasonal and spatial uncertainties across the products. The TCH-weighted product (TW), calculated using signal-to-noise ratio weighting, outperforms the original reanalysis datasets across various watersheds and seasons. After correction with APHRODITE data, the enhanced integrated product (ATW) significantly improves accuracy, making it more suitable for extreme precipitation event analysis. Quantile mapping was applied to assess the ability of TW and ATW to represent extreme precipitation. Both products showed improved accuracy in regional average precipitation, with ATW demonstrating superior improvement. This integration method provides a robust approach for refining reanalysis precipitation datasets, contributing to more reliable hydrological and climate studies.