Recently, the research team led by Professor Miao Chiyuan from the Faculty of Geographical Science at Beijing Normal University made new progress in identifying priority regions for the deployment of new precipitation gauges. The related study was published in Nature on March 26. 

Against the backdrop of climate change, understanding the evolution of the water cycle and supporting the sustainable use of water resources rely on precipitation observations that are both spatially extensive and continuously reliable. At the same time, under conditions of constrained resource investment, determining where new stations should be added as a priority in order to enhance monitoring capacity for floods, droughts, and climate risks has become an important scientific question in hydrometeorology and geographical science. This study systematically evaluated the spatiotemporal distribution patterns and coverage levels of the global precipitation station network, quantified the gap between current coverage and the minimum density standards recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and identified key regions where station networks should be intensified as a matter of priority. The study also revealed China’s important contribution over recent decades to the development of rain gauge infrastructure and the improvement of observation networks in Asia and across the globe.

The abstract of the paper is as follows:

Reliable future climate projections and water deficiency assessments require precipitation observations that are both spatially comprehensive and temporally complete, yet many global regions still suffer from observation sparsity. Here we evaluate the distribution of 221,483 internationally exchanged precipitation gauges worldwide, with records across 1900–2022, and further explore where new gauges are most needed under different scenarios. We find that at present only 13.4% of the global land surface meets the World Meteorological Organization requirements for annual precipitation monitoring, indicating widespread scarcity that has serious socioeconomic implications. Europe has the highest continental gauge density (2.4 gauges per 1,000 km²), with Germany leading among countries over 50,000 km² (22.4 gauges per 1,000 km²). Globally, 25% of land surface already requires urgent expansion of gauge networks because of climate variability, including northern South America, northern North America, Central Africa and southern Asia. Considering projected precipitation changes and socioeconomic conditions under a high-emission scenario further identifies high-need regions in India, Greenland, Bolivia and China because of climate sensitivity and socioeconomic vulnerabilities, increasing this share to 32.1% of global land. Our findings highlight important gaps in global precipitation monitoring that require strategic investments in new gauges and underscore the need for open data access.

Reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10300-5