Dynamics of precipitation in transition:
The water source for the Galápagos Archipelago
under climate change

Project staff

Abstract:

To derive area-wide rainfall data, WP2 applies rainfall retrieval by using weather satellite data and machine learning (ML). A new retrieval scheme, the Galápagos Rainfall Retrieval GRR, will be developed based on the newest-generation GOES satellite with the ABI instrument (Advanced Baseline Imager) and active systems such as Cloudsat, GPM and CALIPSO. In addition to the new retrieval, we exploit longer time series (back to 1980) of satellite-based rainfall products, retrieved from lower-resolution satellite systems, to particularly study area-wide rainfall during extreme events such as El Niño and La Niña. The retrieved rainfall grids and its uncertainties will be intensively tested with the AWS data of WP1 and the GAR rainfields.

Workflow for the development of the Galápagos Rainfall Retrieval (GRR); CBA = Cloud BaseAltitude, LWC = Liquid Water Content

Publications and poster presentations:

• 2023
• Zander, S.; Turini, N.; Ballari, D.; Bayas López, S.; Célleri Alvear, R.; Delgado Maldonado, B.; Orellana-Alvear, J.; Schmidt, B.; Scherer, D. & Bendix, J. (2023): The Spatio-Temporal Cloud Frequency Distribution in the Galapagos Archipelago as Seen from MODIS Cloud Mask Data. Atmosphere 14, 1225.