Satellite-based estimates of rainfall from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) have been used by the operational forecasting community for nearly three decades. These techniques have evolved from the largely manual Interactive Flash Flood Analyzer (IFFA) to the fully automated Auto-Estimator (AE) and Hydro-Estimator (HE), the latter of which has been available to National Weather Service Forecast Offices via the Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) since 2004. In spite of advances in the quality of these estimates, there are still instances where the HE does not correctly depict rainfall fields and Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) analysts are forced to issue manual IFFA estimates as a supplement. Consequently, efforts to improve the HE have continued since its operational implementation in 2002.

A new and improved version of the HE is slated for operational implementation during the latter portion of 2006, and this presentation will describe the new algorithm and comparisons of skill to the previous version of the HE. Future plans for additional improvements will also be discussed.