Evaluation of GPM IMERG satellite precipitation for rainfall–runoff modelling in Great Britain

Abstract

Reliable hydrological simulations require accurate precipitation data. However, data uncertainties due to the indirect nature of satellite estimates can propagate through hydrological models and lead to simulation errors. This study assesses the accuracy of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products, comparing them directly with ground-based precipitation data and evaluating their performance in rainfall–runoff modelling across Great Britain. Three IMERG V06 products (IMERG-Early, IMERG-Late, and IMERG-Final) are examined. Utilizing the simple water balance model (SWBM), the analysis covers 250 basins, revealing that the SWBM performs well in over 50% of the basins. Runoff estimations show that European Observation (E-OBS) ground-based data yield the highest Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) score (0.91), followed by IMERG-Final (0.85), IMERG-Late (0.82), and IMERG-Early (0.73). The findings underscore IMERG’s utility in hydrological modelling for ungauged or poorly gauged basins. © 2024 IAHS.