Accuracy of satellite-based precipitation products for hydrological modeling in the Mahandi River Basin

Various hydrological processes have an extremely vital role to play in the planning and management of water resources. This study investigates the use and resulting outcome of the satellite-based precipitation products that includes both corrected data from gauge and uncorrected data in the assessment of hydrological quantities such as streamflow simulation process, evapotranspiration (ET), and sediment yield using Soil and Water Assessment (SWAT) model. The SWAT model was configured using various precipitation data and the setup of this model was applied in the Mahanadi River basin of India in different gauges of varied hydrological and topographic perspectives. Various dataset such as Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), Precipitation Estimation form Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN), Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation (CHIRP), and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) have been used in the analysis. The Mahanadi River is considered as one of the major rivers in eastern India, flowing through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to the east into the Bay of Bengal. The major objectives of this study were, 1) comparison of streamflow, ET, and sediment yield of different gauges of the Mahanadi river basin with varying hydrological and topographic nature with different precipitation products and from observed rain gauges and, 2) comparison among different precipitation products and their accuracy for different gauges of the river basin. The study was conducted for the period of 35 years from 1985 to 2019. The results indicated higher overall accuracy for the GPM-IMERG data for the streamflow, ET, and sediment yield simulation in comparison to other products. This study provides a significant insight into the use of various satellite-based precipitation products in different terrain for a large and a major river basin of India that can be implemented to determine the suitability of various precipitation products in different topographic regimes of different river basins.