Uncertainty in Satellite Rainfall Estimates: Time Series Comparison

We examined nine satellite rainfall algorithms and compared the rain fields produced from these algorithms for the period of August 1987 to December 1988. Preliminary results show algorithms which use the same satellite sensor data tend to be similar, suggesting the importance of sampling. Oceanic global mean rainfall ranges from 2.7 to 3.6 mm/d. The variability in zonal mean rain rate is about 1.5-2 mm/d for these algorithms.