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Abstract Recently, the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) products with high spatial (0.1° × 0.1°) and temporal (half-hourly) resolution have become operationally available. It is of crucial importance to comprehensively evaluate these new products before they are applied extensively. This study focuses on statistical and hydrological evaluations of the latest IMERG (Version 05) products: the near-real-time “Early” run and “Late” run IMERG products (IMERG-E and IMERG-L, respectively), and the post-real-time “Final” run IMERG product (IMERG-F) over the mid-latitude humid Mishui basin in South China during 2014–2015, in comparison with their predecessors, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) products (3B42RT and 3B42V7). The post-real-time IMERG-F presents the best performance among the five satellite precipitation products (SPPs), with the highest daily correlation coefficient (CC) of 0.85 and the lowest daily root-mean square error of 5.58 mm at the basin scale. The near-real-time IMERG-E and IMERG-L demonstrate comparable performance with 3B42V7. In addition, the Taylor diagrams visually demonstrate that the IMERG products are better than the 3B42 products. For hydrological simulations under scenario I (model calibration based on rain gauge observations), the post-real-time IMERG-F performs obviously better than the 3B42V7 does, with a relatively high CC of 0.81, a good Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of 0.63, and an acceptable relative bias of −3.98%. Both the IMERG-E and IMERG-L demonstrate a better performance than the 3B42RT does. For scenario II (model recalibration based on each satellite dataset), the hydrological performances of both the IMERG and 3B42 products are improved. The IMERG-E, especially, demonstrates streamflow simulation performance comparable to that of the 3B42V7, both for the whole simulation period and flood season, indicating the great potential of the latest near-real-time IMERG-E product for flood simulation and prediction. Overall, this systematic evaluation highlights that the latest IMERG products have desirable hydrological utility in the study region. This study will provide useful guidelines for hydrological applications of the new generation SPPs, as well as IMERG algorithm development. Highlights • Three latest V05 IMERG products and two TMPA 3B42 products were statistically and hydrologically evaluated. • IMERG products outperform their corresponding 3B42 products both in rainfall estimation and hydrological simulation. • Post-real-time IMERG product (IMERG-F) presents the best performance. • Near-real-time IMERG product (IMERG-E) shows great potential for flood forecasting. • Earlier studies using the IMERG products in hydrological simulation were preliminarily discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a natural disaster and its occurrence and development can be attributed to a range of driving factors, such as deficient precipitation, wind, temperature, land use/land cover changes, and so on. Therefore, attribution and monitoring of droughts are complicated and challenging. Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) has been widely used in meteorological drought monitoring. Nonstationarity has not been considered in SPEI-based drought monitoring. Here we propose a modified SPEI considering the nonstationarity of hydrometeorological processes, i.e. NSPEI hereafter. We observe nonstationarity SPEI in the Northeast, the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The goodness-of-fit can be determined for 76% of the total stations. Under the assumption of nonstationarity, the drought monitoring performance of the NSPEI is more robust than the traditional SPEI. Besides, we evaluate drought conditions across China under four shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), i.e. SSP126, SSP245, SSP370 and SSP585. We identify intensifying droughts in southwest China but a wetting tendency in northern China in winter under the SSP126 scenario; but a significant wetting tendency in southwest China and a drying tendency in northeast China under SSP245, SSP370 and SSP585 scenarios. This study provides a novel meteorological drought index and highlights a fresh picture of drought conditions across China under different SSPs. • A non-stationary SPEI index is developed. • The drought monitoring performance of the NSPEI is robust than the traditional SPEI. • We reevaluated drought conditions across China in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we comprehensively evaluated the utility of integrated long-term satellite-based precipitation and evapotranspiration products for drought monitoring over mainland China. The latest Integrated Multi-satelliteE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement V06 three Runs precipitation products, i.e., the near real-time Early Run (IMERG-E) and Late Run (IMERG-L) and the post-real time Final Run (IMERG-F), and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model V3.3a (GLEAM) potential evapotranspiration (PET) products from 2001 to 2017 were considered. The accuracy of IMERG precipitation and GLEAM PET products was first evaluated against observed precipitation and Penman-Monteith method estimated PET, respectively, based on dense meteorological station network. The Standard Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) calculated based on IMERG precipitation and GLEAM PET products (SPEIs, including SPEI E , SPEI L and SPEI F corresponding to IMERG-E, IMERG-L and IMERG-F, respectively) were then validated by using SPEI calculated based on meteorological data (SPEIm) at multiple temporal-spatial scales. Finally, four typical drought events were selected to analyse the ability of SPEIs to characterize the temporal-spatial evolution of drought situations. The results showed that the IMERG-F presents much better performance than IMERG-E and IMERG-L in terms of higher CC and smaller BIAS and RMSE values over mainland China. The GLEAM PET well simulated the change trend of reference PET, but generally underestimated reference PET in Northwest China (NW), Xinjiang (XJ) and Qinghai–Tibet plateau (TP). In general, the performances of SPEIs over eastern China and Southwest China (SW) were significantly superior to their performances in the NW, XJ, and TP regions. Even though the SPEI F performed the best, the SPEI E and SPEI L also performed reasonably well in some specific regions. SPEIs can well capture the temporal process and reasonably reflect the spatial characteristics for four typical drought events. It is thus highlighted that the latest IMERG precipitation (especially for IMERG-F) and GLEAM PET products could be used as alternative data sources for comprehensive drought monitoring, on account of the water balance principle over mainland China, particularly in eastern China and SW China. The outcomes of this study will provide valuable references for drought monitoring by integration of multi-source remote-sensing datasets in the GPM era. • The utility of integrated IMERG precipitation and GLEAM PET for drought monitoring was evaluated over mainland China. • SPEIs based on IMERG precipitation and GLEAM PET were validated at multiple spatial and temporal scales over mainland China. • IMERG precipitation and GLEAM PET show great potential for drought monitoring over eastern China and Southwest China. • SPEIs can well capture the temporal process and reasonably reflect the spatial characteristics for typical drought events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]