Rainfall Area Identification Algorithm Based on Himawari-8 Satellite Data and Analysis of its Spatiotemporal Characteristics

Real-time monitoring of rainfall areas based on satellite remote sensing is of vital importance for extreme rainfall research and disaster prediction. In this study, a new rainfall area identification algorithm was developed for the new generation of geostationary satellites with high spatial and temporal resolution and rich bands. As the main drivers of the rainfall process, the macro and micro physical properties of clouds play an important role in the formation and development of rainfall. We considered differences in the absorption capacity of the water vapor absorption channels in the infrared band and introduced a sensitivity difference of rainfall area in water vapor channels to construct a sensitive detection of the water vapor region. The results of this algorithm were evaluated using Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite products and CloudSat measurements in various scenarios, with hit rates of 70.03% and 81.39% and false alarm rates of 2.05% and 21.34%, respectively. Spatiotemporal analysis revealed that the types of upper clouds in the rainfall areas mainly consisted of deep convection, cirrostratus, and nimbostratus clouds. Our study provides supporting data for weather research and disaster prediction, as well as an efficient and reliable method for capturing temporal and spatial features.