Enhancing rainfall observation accuracy over land

Quantitative precipitation estimate is one vital input to meteorologists, hydrologic scientists, water resources managers, and environmental legislators. Yet, accurate measurement of precipitation over the relevant space and time scales remains a challenge. Soil moisture can be seen as the trace of the precipitation and, consequently, can be useful for providing a way to estimate rainfall accumulation or at least a new constrain to rainfall algorithms. In this context, the objective of the ‘SMOS+RAINFALL’ project is to ingest satellite soil moisture information derived from ASCAT, SMOS and SMAP into the latest state-of-the-art satellite precipitation products like those derived from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) to enhance rainfall observation accuracy over land.