Assembly of satellite-based rainfall datasets in situ data and rainfall climatology contours for the MENA region

Information on the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall is very critical for addressing water related disasters, especially in the arid to semi-arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa region. However, availability of reliable rainfall datasets for the region is limited. In this study we combined observation from satellite-based rainfall data, in situ rain gauge observation and rainfall climatology to create a reliable regional rainfall dataset for Jordan, West Bank and Lebanon. First, we validated three satellite-based rainfall products using rain gauge observations obtained from Jordan (205 stations), Palestine (44 stations) and Lebanon (8 stations). We used the daily 25-km Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission over 2000-2016; daily 10-km Rainfall Estimate for Africa (RFE) rainfall over 2001-2016; daily 1-km Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitations with Station (CHIRPS) rainfall over 1981-2015; daily 25-km Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) over 1984-2015. The validation was conducted between in situ rain gauge observation and satellite rainfall data and resulted in utilizing the MSWEP dataset in correlation with a bias correction grid. The created rainfall dataset was used to estimate stream flow in the region and determine suitable areas of aquifer recharge.