Arid Zone Research ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (8): 1379-1383.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2025.08.03

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Assessment of the applicability of CLDAS and GPM precipitation data for precipitation in Qinghai Province

SHEN Yanling1,2,3(), CAO Xiaomin1,2(), MA Yuancang1,2, WANG Zhenhai4   

  1. 1. Qinghai Institute of Meteorological Science, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
    2. Qinghai Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
    3. Heavy Rain and Drought-Flood Disasters in Plateau and Basin Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 610213, Sichuan, China
    4. Qinghai Meteorological Bureau, Xining 810001, Qinghai, China
  • Received:2025-03-21 Revised:2025-06-18 Online:2025-08-15 Published:2025-11-24

Abstract:

Based on summer hourly station observations in Qinghai from 2005 to 2021, this study evaluated the accuracy of China Meteorological Administration Land Data Assimilation System (CLDAS) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) precipitation data across multiple dimensions, including temporal scales, diurnal variation, and elevation impacts. The results showed that: CLDAS outperformed GPM in overall accuracy. Both systems tended to overestimate the amount and frequency of light precipitation but underestimate these metrics for heavy precipitation. CLDAS better captured diurnal variations in precipitation amount/frequency and elevation-dependent patterns than GPM. However, CLDAS exhibited abnormally high values near major lakes. Correlations with elevation strengthened progressively for both products with increasing altitude, with CLDAS exhibiting a more significant trend in correlation enhancement. GPM overestimated the amount and frequency of precipitation at low elevations but underestimated these metrics at high elevations.

Key words: CLDAS, GPM, precipitation evaluation, altitude impact, Qinghai