Correction of synoptic precipitation observations due to systematic measuring errors with special regard to precipitation phases

Abstract

A recently developed method for event-based daily bias-correction of synoptic precipitation observations regarding systematic measuring errors was transfered at the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) from regional to global applications. Using the reported present weather, an analysis based on more than 600 000 global synoptic data from 16 winter months was done, which made it possible to relate air temperature and dew point temperature to the probable distribution of liquid, solid and mixed precipitation phase. Based on this information, synoptic precipitation observations can be corrected regarding systematic measuring errors on a daily resolution, which makes the estimation of extreme precipitation events more reliable.