US Egypt Cooperative Research: Improving Rainfall Estimation over the Nile Basin Using Merged Multi-Channel Infrared and Microwave Satellite Observations

这一合作研究项目由路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校的Emad Habib博士和埃及水资源和灌溉部的Mohamed Abdel-Motaleb博士负责。由于快速增长的人口、经济增长和城市化，埃及预计将面临日益增长的水资源需求。为了应对这些挑战，埃及水资源和灌溉部的尼罗河预报中心(NFC)运行了一套水文模拟模型和分析工具，支持当前和未来的可持续水资源管理和规划战略。NFC依靠卫星红外图像来估计尼罗河流域的降雨信息，这是NFC水文模型的主要输入。由于基于IR的降雨量估计的固有局限性，本项目旨在改进现有的NFC降雨量估计算法。提出了两种类型的改进来改进当前的NFC算法：(1)从第二代气象卫星(MSG)上的旋转增强型可见光红外成像仪(SEVIRI)添加更多最近可供NFC使用的红外通道，以及(2)整合来自NFC算法(特殊传感器微波/成像器(SSM/I)和高级微波探测单元(AMSU))的其他有价值的卫星数据。这些改进将在将在尼罗河流域配置和测试的自我校准卫星降雨估计算法中实施。项目活动将在NFC和路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校(UL)的研究人员之间进行。卫星数据和算法支持将由NOAA的国家环境卫星数据和信息服务(NESDIS)提供。该项目编制的新的降雨量估计值将使用地面测量进行统计验证，并将与国家林业局目前编制的纯红外估计值相比较进行评估。这项研究将向科学界通报研究不足地区卫星降雨产品的精确度，还将就采用仅在欧洲和非洲提供的额外卫星传感器的额外好处提供反馈。该项目的结果对埃及的水资源管理具有重大影响，并有可能验证在美国使用的算法。此外，该项目将为美国本科生和研究生提供在埃及获得国际研究经验的机会。该项目由美国-埃及联合基金计划资助，该计划为两国的科学家和工程师提供合作研究的补助金。

This collaborative research project is being undertaken by Dr. Emad Habib, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Motaleb, Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. Egypt is expected to face increasing water needs due to rapidly growing population, economic growth and urbanization. To prepare for such challenges, the Nile Forecasting Center (NFC) in the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation operates a suite of hydrologic simulation models and analysis tools that support current and future strategies for sustainable water resources management and planning. NFC relies on satellite infrared (IR) imagery to estimate rainfall information over the Nile Basin, which is the main input to NFC hydrologic models. Due to the inherent limitations of IR-based rainfall estimates, the proposed project aims to improve on the current NFC rainfall estimation algorithms. Two types of enhancements are proposed for improving the current NFC algorithm: (1) adding more infrared channels that have become recently available to NFC from the Spinning Enhanced Visible Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) onboard a Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, and (2) integrating other valuable satellite data from passive microwave sensors which are not currently used by the NFC algorithm (the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU)). These enhancements will be implemented within a self-calibrating satellite-rainfall estimation algorithm to be configured and tested over the Nile basin. The project activities will be conducted as collaboration between researchers at NFC and the University of Louisiana (UL) at Lafayette. Satellite data and algorithm support will be contributed by the NOAA's National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS). The new rainfall estimates developed in the project will be statistically validated using surface gauge measurements and will be evaluated in comparison to infrared-only estimates that are currently produced at NFC.The research will inform the scientific community regarding the accuracy of satellite rainfall products in understudied regions, and it will also provide feedback on the added benefit of incorporating additional satellite sensors which are only available in Europe and Africa. The outcome of the project has significant implications for water resource management in Egypt and has the potential to validate algorithms for use in the US. Additionally, the project will present opportunities for US undergraduates and graduate students to obtain international research experience in Egypt.The project is funded under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to undertake cooperative research.