HR: 11:08h
AN: A42C-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Using High Frequency Passive Microwave, A-Train, and TRMM Data to Evaluate Hydrometeor Structure in the NASA GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System
AU: * Robertson, F
EM: pete.robertson@nasa.gov
AF: NASA / MSFC, 320 Sparkman Dr., Huntsville, AL 35805, United States
AU: Bacmeister, J
EM: bacmj@janus.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA / GSFC, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Bosilovich, M
EM: mike.bosilovich@nasa.gov
AF: NASA / GSFC, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Pittman, J
EM: jasna.pittman@nasa.gov
AF: NASA / MSFC-NPP, 320 sparkman Dr., Huntsville, AL 35805, United States
AB: Validating water vapor and prognostic condensate in global models remains a challenging research task. Model parameterizations are still subject to a large number of tunable parameters; furthermore, accurate and representative in situ observations are very sparse, and satellite observations historically have significant quantitative uncertainties. Progress on improving cloud / hydrometeor fields in models stands to benefit greatly from the growing inventory of A-Train data sets. In the present study we are using a variety of complementary satellite retrievals of hydrometeors to examine condensate produced by the emerging NASA Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, MERRA, and its associated atmospheric general circulation model GEOS-5. Cloud and precipitation are generated by both grid-scale prognostic equations and by the Relaxed Arakawa-Schubert (RAS) diagnostic convective parameterization. The high frequency channels (89 to 183.3 GHz) from AMSU-B and MHS on NOAA polar orbiting satellites are being used to evaluate the climatology and variability of precipitating ice from tropical convective anvils. Vertical hydrometeor structure from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and CloudSat radars are used to develop statistics on vertical hydrometeor structure in order to better interpret the extensive high frequency passive microwave climatology. Ice water path data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, are used to investigate relationships between upper level cloudiness and tropical deep convective anvils. Together these complementary measures of water substance from different sensors are used to evaluate cloud liquid / ice water path, gross aspects of vertical hydrometeor structure, and the relationship between cloud extent and surface precipitation in preliminary products of the MERRA reanalysis.
DE: 1640 Remote sensing (1855)
DE: 3314 Convective processes
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting