Major floods in Spain in September 9–13, 2019 resulted in seven casualties and massive losses to agriculture, property and infrastructure. This paper investigates the utility of satellite data to: (1) characterize the event when input into a hydrological model, and to provide an accurate picture of the evolution of the floods; and (2) inform meteorologists in real time in order to complement model forecasts. It is shown that the precipitation estimates from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory (GPM-CO, available since 2014) and the merged satellite estimates provide an extraordinary improvement over previous technologies to monitor severe hydrometeorological episodes in near real time. In spite of known biases and errors, these new satellite precipitation estimates can be of broad practical interest to deal with emergencies and long-term readiness, especially for semi-arid areas potentially affected by ongoing global warming. Comparisons of satellite data of the September event with model outputs and more direct observations such as rain gauges and ground radars reinforce the idea that satellites are fundamental for an appropriate management of hydrometeorological events.

2019年9月9日至13日，西班牙发生大水灾，造成7人伤亡，农业，财产和基础设施遭受重大损失。本文研究了卫星数据在以下方面的实用性：（1）在输入水文模型时表征事件，并提供洪水演变的准确图景；（2）实时通知气象学家，以补充模型预报。结果表明，全球降水量测量（GPM）核心天文台（GPM-CO，自2014年起提供）的降水量估算值和合并的卫星估算值比以前的用于实时监测严重水文气象事件的技术有了显着改善。尽管存在已知的偏见和错误，这些新的卫星降水估计数可能对处理紧急情况和长期准备具有广泛的实际意义，尤其是对于可能受到持续全球变暖影响的半干旱地区。将9月事件的卫星数据与模型输出以及更直接的观测数据（例如雨量计和地面雷达）进行比较，进一步证明了卫星是适当管理水文气象事件的基础。