Comparing GPROF V7 and commercial microwave link precipitation estimates with DPR in the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Nigeria

Rainfall estimates from commercial microwave links (CMLs) have become valuable complements to conventional rainfall sensors, especially in the Global South, where ground-based radar and raingauge networks are sparse. Spaceborne instruments aboard low Earth orbiting satellites also offer valuable precipitation data, especially over inaccessible areas. This study is the first to compare CML rainfall estimates with those derived from the radiometer on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite across countries with different climates (Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Nigeria) using data from the GPM radar as reference. The weaknesses of CML and radiometers are distinct: radiometers tend to underestimate high-intensity events with a relative bias varying between 10 and 50% depending on the country and the threshold used to differentiate between dry conditions and rainfall, while CML estimates often miss low-intensity rainfall, with a probability of detection (POD) varying between 0.1 (Nigeria) and 0.5 (the Netherlands).