Regime-based precipitation modeling: A spatio-temporal approach

In this paper, we propose a new regime-based model to describe spatio-temporal dynamics of precipitation data. Precipitation is one of the most essential factors for multiple human-related activities such as agriculture production. Therefore, a detailed and accurate understanding of the rain for a given region is needed. Motivated by the different formations of precipitation systems (convective, frontal, and orographic), we proposed a hierarchical regime-based spatio-temporal model for precipitation data. We use information about the values of neighboring sites to identify such regimes, allowing spatial and temporal dependence to be different among regimes. Using the Bayesian approach with R INLA, we fit our model to the Guanajuato state (Mexico) precipitation data case study to understand the spatial and temporal dependencies of precipitation in this region. Our findings show the regime-based model’s versatility and compare it with the truncated Gaussian model.