Satellite products at SHMÚ and their potential in monitoring precipitation and drought conditions
Ján Kanák presents the operational satellite products for precipitation detection, the procedure for their validation and a case study showing the use of these products in evaluating the long-term accumulated precipitation.
Primary satellite data processed into higher-level products are still used less frequently, especially in the context of processing by NWC SAF software, or directly by SAF products received by the EUMETCast Satellite receiving system. Such products include the hydrology support products of the EUMETSAT H SAF (Hydrological Satellite Application Facility). SHMÚ, as a member of the consortium, has long been involved in the task of validation of products for precipitation detection and hydrological applications of these products. In this article we present the operational satellite products for precipitation detection, the procedure for their validation and a case study presenting the use of these products in evaluating the long-term accumulated precipitation. Accumulated precipitation can be used to monitor periods of droughts with precipitation deficits and surpluses. The ambition of this work is to show future users of satellite data that satellite products of a higher level of processing have the potential for climatological studies. A significant increase in this potential is expected in the near future with the launch of the new generation of MTG (third generation Meteosat) and EPS-SG (second generation European Polar System) satellites.