Evaluation of Spatial Interpolation Techniques for Operational Climate Monitoring in the Philippines

To overcome the limitation of low network density and sparse distribution of meteorological stations, spatial interpolation is being performed for estimating meteorological variables that are not geographically covered by existing observation network. While there are several readily available spatial interpolation techniques, it is still difficult to determine which one best estimates actual observation. Considering the stimulus for disaster risk reduction, hydrological, agricultural, and other applications of interpolated data, this study compared six interpolation techniques (Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW), Completely Regularized Spline (CRS), Tension Spline (TS), Ordinary Kriging (OK), Universal Kriging (UK), and ANUSPLIN) that have been recommended in tropical maritime region. Validation results comparing historical monthly and interpolated rainfall data from 1981-2010 in 65 stations in the Philippines show that OK has the best performance among the aforementioned techniques followed by ANUSPLIN and TS. Ultimately, this study is a contribution to the existing inadequate literatures that have documented and evaluated interpolation techniques that can be used in archipelagic regions with prominent climate variability.