- 1International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE), Laboratory for Water, Hydro-Systems and Agriculture (LEHSA), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (roland.yonaba@gmail.com)
- 2Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles du Burkina Faso (INERA)
- 3Department of Geography, Catchments and Coasts Research Group, University of Lincoln, UK
- 4International Water Management Institute (IWMI), PMB CT 112, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana
Accurately capturing rainfall patterns is crucial for hydrometeorological applications, particularly in regions like Burkina Faso, West Africa, where rainfall variability significantly impacts water resources and agricultural productivity. However, challenges remain in identifying the most reliable rainfall products for such purposes. This research evaluates the effectiveness of satellite precipitation products (SPPs) and soil moisture-derived rainfall products (SM2RPPs) in representing rainfall patterns in Burkina Faso. Results show that SPPs generally perform better than SM2RPPs across daily to annual timescales. An analysis of total bias components highlights that hit biases dominate but are more pronounced in SM2RPPs. Systematic errors contribute significantly to these hit biases, indicating the potential for improvement through bias correction. Wavelet analysis reveals that both SPPs and SM2RPPs capture seasonal and annual rainfall variability effectively. However, all products exhibit limitations in accurately representing extreme rainfall indices, although SPPs demonstrate superior performance compared to SM2RPPs. While SM2RPPs currently underperform relative to SPPs in Burkina Faso, they show promise for hydrometeorological applications and could achieve comparable or improved results with enhanced bias correction techniques.
How to cite: Yonaba, R., Belemtougri, A., Fowé, T., Mounirou, L. A., Nkiaka, E., Dembele, M., Akpoti, K., Coly, S. M., Koïta, M., and Karambiri, H.: Rainfall Estimation in West Africa: A Performance Comparison of Satellite and Soil Moisture-Derived Products, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-2576, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-2576, 2025.