Review of Progress in Analysis of Extreme Precipitation Using Satellite Data

The statistical analysis of rainfall extremes is of particular importance in risk assessment and decision making. Recent studies in the past two decades indicate that the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events are changing, possibly due to climate change. Most previous analyses of climatic extremes have been based on gauge data sets. In recent years satellite observations provide the opportunity to study extremes in both space and time. Particularly, they allow investigating the dependence between extremes precipitation events. Understanding the concept of dependence could lead to insights in joint floods and other related extremes. This article discusses the current state of research on extreme precipitation events, particularly in a changing climate. The concept of nonstationarity and its potential impacts on frequency analysis and return period estimation is discussed. The paper also addresses application of satellite-based precipitation data for inference of extreme climate events. While satellite data sets provide valuable information, they are subject to uncertainties. Despite extensive research still quantification of uncertainty insatellite observations is challenging.More research is still needed to understand errors associated with satellite precipitation data. Having a better understanding of satellite data uncertainty will enhance their applications to extreme value analysis.