Satellite Data and Geographic Information System for Rainfall Estimation

Abstract
Rainfall data constitute an important parameter for studying water resources‐related problems. Currently, little is known about the accuracy of the estimation of rainfall in a given area, primarily because of the wide variability of rainfall distribution in space and time and the lack of information concerning the optimization of the traditional raingage network design. Remote sensing techniques could provide a more rapid and comprehensive overview of the rainfall distribution in a given area. Thus, the half‐hourly visible and thermal infrared data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), in conjunction with the Scofield‐Oliver method and a geographic information system (GIS), were used to monitor rainfall in Florida. Eleven convective clouds that covered 26 raingage stations were analyzed. The cell size with raster format used in the GIS was 48km2. The results showed that the satellite rainfall estimations were well correlated to raingage measurements with a coefficient of deter...