Improving satellite-based global rainfall erosivity estimates through merging with gauge data

The goal of this study is to advance the modeling of global rainfall erosivity by integrating satellite-based erosivity estimates with gauge data. To this end, the researchers employed a first approach to analyze global rainfall erosivity based on the new generation GPM-IMERG long-term (2001–2020) rainfall data at a temporal resolution of 30-min and spatial resolution of 0.1° × 0.1°. They then improved the GPM-IMERG-based global rainfall erosivity estimates by merging with Global Rainfall Erosivity Database (GloREDa) station data (Panagos et al., 2017) through a residual-based merging scheme using GWR. 

The specific objectives were to (i) develop a new global rainfall erosivity map based on GPM-IMERG merged with GloREDa, (ii) evaluate the performance of the GWR-based merging method based on the GloREDa data, and (iii) identify areas prone to soil erosion by water through a coupled mapping of erosivity density (ED) and mean annual rainfall. The findings of this study can enhance our understanding of the global patterns of rainfall erosivity and contribute to improving soil erosion modeling.