Space–time multifractality of remotely sensed rainfall fields

A methodology aimed at characterizing the scaling properties of precipitation fields in space and time is revised and applied to remotely sensed rainfall data retrieved during two oceanic campaigns (GATE and TOGA-COARE), and a land campaign (TRMM-LBA). The presence of spatial heterogeneity induced by orography is investigated on data retrieved over land (TRMM-LBA): the performed analyses show that the orographic induced heterogeneity seems to be negligible for the examined data. Moreover, the scaling properties observed on rainfall over land are compared with those detected on ocean rainfall for several space–time events. Results of a multifractal analysis enable a common calibration of the STRAIN space–time rainfall downscaling cascade model for the three datasets. Generated synthetic fields preserve the observed rainfall space–time variability.