<p>Let's say I'm extracting precipitation from a single pixel or region from a reanalysis (MERRA-2, ERA-5, Interim) dataset.</p>

<p>I can infer a distribution for the daily data (Gamma, Pearson-III, e.g. <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2118/8e1e04ab60c68dabc6c20e254953c4501c98.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link</a>), but I know that it will be <strong>conservative</strong> since I'm basing the distribution on a reanalysis product (smoothed, spatially averaged out).</p>

<p>Is there an <strong>appropriate method to approximate the "real/actual" local precipitation distribution</strong> from a reanalysis dataset?</p>

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2019-10-18T08:36:30.490Z
Be aware that even rain gauges can have large errors, in particular automated ones.  A leaf gets stuck and suddenly it "stops raining".  It happens.
gerrit
<precipitation><reanalysis><weatherdata>
How to infer local precipitation from reanalysis data?
Dan
# How to infer local precipitation from reanalysis data?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-17)

Let's say I'm extracting precipitation from a single pixel or region from a reanalysis (MERRA-2, ERA-5, Interim) dataset.

I can infer a distribution for the daily data (Gamma, Pearson-III, e.g. [link](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2118/8e1e04ab60c68dabc6c20e254953c4501c98.pdf)), but I know that it will be **conservative** since I'm basing the distribution on a reanalysis product (smoothed, spatially averaged out).

Is there an **appropriate method to approximate the "real/actual" local precipitation distribution** from a reanalysis dataset?

**Tags:** precipitation, reanalysis, weatherdata

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Be aware that even rain gauges can have large errors, in particular automated ones.  A leaf gets stuck and suddenly it "stops raining".  It happens.  

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## 0 answers

