STAR Satellite Rainfall Estimates

Hydro-Estimator - World Regions
Automatic Satellite-Derived Precipitation Estimates

This page provides 24-hour rainfall rate estimates for areas covered by the Meteosat-9, Meteosat-7, and MTSAT-1 satellites. Rain rates were estimated from cloud-top temperatures and AVN model data using algorithms which, to date, have only been calibrated over the continental United States. The first eight characters of each file name shows the year, month, day, and time for the observation; estimated rainfall is for the 24 hours prior to that time. No archive for this data currently exists, and we do not have data prior to what is on this page.

India and Southeast Asia from the Kalpana-1 Satellite

The weather satellite launched in 2002 was India's first exclusive meteorological satellite, and was originally named Metsat-1. In 2003 it was renamed Kalpana-1, in memory of Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born scientist who was among seven astronauts killed in the Columbia disaster. Kalpana-1 carries a carries a Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) capable of imaging the Earth in the visible, thermal infrared and water vapour bands. The hydro-estimator uses data from the thermal infrared band, as well as model data, to estimate rain rates for the entire field of view. It is important to remember that the algorithm has only been calibrated and verified over the continental United States, and that significant portions of the American version of the model - notably, orographic effects - are not included in this version.