The Reliability of Satellite Precipitation Measurements in Singapore

The study and analysis of precipitation on the surface of the earth is important for understanding the hydrological cycle of the planet. Estimating precipitation variations across space and time has widespread applications in environmental monitoring, issuing drought warnings, and increasing agricultural productivity. In this paper, we quantify the reliability of satellite precipitation measurements compared to ground-based measurements using Singapore as a case study. We test the strength of the correlation and also the similarity between different satellite data sources with respect to our private and high resolution weather station. We obtain high degree of correlation between satellite- and ground- based measurements indicating the potential to provide reliable precipitation estimates. This is immensely useful as satellite data prove to offer us fantastic alternatives as compared to the point measurements from ground-based precipitation measurements.