Contactos Conócenos

Precipitation study in key basins in Bolivia using estimated precipitation from satellites

Summary:
This study is within the research framework of Global Precipitation Observation. It is important to check the satellite precipitation estimates to see how useful they could be for a better understanding of the hydrological cycle and eventually for the benefit of society. Thus, it is expected to take advantage of the hydro-meteorological products derived from remote satellite sensors combined with measurements to the Earth's surface.

Several basins in the world, especially in developing countries, need to increase the number and extent of their meteorological stations on land. Which is not always feasible due to accessibility, initial investment costs and maintenance. The advantage of satellite precipitation is coverage, taking into account the spatial and temporal distribution in a complementary way to point measurements with rain gauges and in some scarce regions.


For this study the products: GSMaP, CHIRPS and GMET were used. Each of these has different spatial and temporal resolution. The study areas are: Katari Basin, Rio Grande Basin and Pilcomayo Basin. Each one presents different reliefs, in order to consider the height factor as part of the analysis. The selected time period was 2000 - 2016.

This project has 3 main objectives:
- Evaluation of satellite precipitation products in the available rain gauge networks.
- Development of a new database with higher spatial and temporal resolution.

- Application of the new improved precipitation products to carry out hydrological simulations and thus estimate the water balance in the Bolivian and South American basins.

The main funding source is the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAXA will provide all the satellite products necessary for study in addition to the travel costs to attend the scientific meetings for reports and exchange of ideas. Financial support has also been received from the Belgian Technical Cooperation for product training on the use and modification of the GMET grid.

The period of this project is from April 2016 to March 2019.

For more details visit the project page “Global Precipitation Measurement

Responsable: 
Oliver Cristian Saavedra Valeriano, PhD
Email: oliversaavedra@upb.edu

Principal investigator:​
Jhonatan Enrique Ureña Camacho
Email: jhon.urca1994@gmail.com

Guest researchers:​
Andrés Germán Vallejos Balladares
Email: andresgvallejosb@gmail.com

Ana Cecilia Escalera Rodríguez
Email: cecichi74.acem@gmail.com