Satellite-based Estimates of Precipitation in Hydrological Forecasts

Experimental forecasts of streamflow were generated by the National Weather Service River Forecast System (NWSRFS)using four distinct techniques of rainfall estimation with geostationary (GOES) satellite image data, as well as conventional forecasts using rain gauge observations. Forecasts were run for two watersheds in northern Mexico in a desert and mountain environment, for the three month convective rainy season of summer 1999. The technique developed by the Mexican Institute of Water Technology, based on the original Convective-Stratiform Technique (CST), generated rainfall estimates with the lowest bias in preliminary results. All the satellite estimates required adjustment to correct for bias, wherever possible, with rain gauge data.