Downscaling of Open Coarse Precipitation Data through Spatial and Statistical Analysis, Integrating NDVI, NDWI, Elevation, and Distance from Sea

This study aims to improve the statistical spatial downscaling of coarse precipitation (TRMM 3B43 product) and also to explore its limitations in the Mediterranean area. It was carried out in Morocco and was based on an open dataset including four predictors (NDVI, NDWI, DEM, and distance from sea) that explain TRMM 3B43 product. For this purpose, four groups of models were established based on different combinations of the four predictors, in order to compare from one side NDVI and NDWI based models and the other side stepwise with multiple regression. The models that have given rise to the best approximations and best fits were used to downscale TRMM 3B43 product. The resulting downscaled and calibrated precipitations were validated by independent RGS. Aside from that, the limitations of the proposed approach were assessed in five bioclimatic stages. Furthermore, the influence of the sea was analyzed in five classes of distance. The findings showed that the models built using NDVI and NDWI have a high correlation and therefore can be used to downscale precipitation. The integration of elevation and distance improved the correlationmodels. According to R-2, RMSE, bias, and MAE, the study revealed that there is a great agreement between downscaled precipitations and RGS measurements. In addition, the analysis showed that the contribution of the variable ( distance from sea) is evident around the coastal area and decreases progressively. Likewise, the study demonstrated that the approach performs well in humid and arid bioclimatic stages compared to others.