HR: 1340h
AN: A23A-0920    [Abstracts]
TI: High Resolution Monthly Oceanic Rainfall Based on Microwave Brightness Temperature Histograms
AU: Shin, D
EM: dshin@scs.gmu.edu
AF: Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 United States
AU: * Chiu, L S
EM: lchiu@gmu.edu
AF: Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 United States
AB: A statistical emission-based passive microwave retrieval algorithm has been developed by Wilheit, Chang and Chiu (1991) to estimate space/time oceanic rainfall. The algorithm has been applied to Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data taken on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites to provide monthly oceanic rainfall over 2.5^ox2.5^o and 5^ox5^o latitude-longitude boxes by the Global Precipitation Climatology Project-Polar Satellite Precipitation Data Center (GPCP-PSPDC, URL: http://gpcp-pspdc.gmu.edu/) as part of NASA­_s contribution to the GPCP. The algorithm has been modified and applied to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) data to produce a TRMM Level 3 standard product (3A11) over 5^ox5^o latitude/longitude boxes. In this study, the algorithm code is modified to retrieve rain rates at 2.5^ox2.5^o and 1^ox1^o resolutions for TMI. Two months of TMI data have been tested and the results compared with the monthly mean rain rates derived from TRMM Level 2 TMI rain profile algorithm (2A12) and the original 5^ox5^o data from 3A11. The rainfall pattern is very similar to the monthly average of 2A12, although the intensity is slightly higher. Details in the rain pattern, such as rain shadow due to island blocking, which were not discernible from the low resolution products, are now easily discernible. The spatial average of the higher resolution rain rates are in general slightly higher than lower resolution rain rates, although a Student-t test shows no significant difference. This high resolution product will be useful for the calibration of IR rain estimates for the production of the GPCP merge rain product.
UR: http://gpcp-pspdc.gmu.edu
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
DE: 1854 Precipitation (3354)
DE: 3354 Precipitation (1854)
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005