1. The Basic Performance of a Precipitation Retrieval Algorithm for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission's Single/Dual-Frequency Radar Measurements
- Author
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Toshio Iguchi, Taikan Oki, and Shinta Seto
- Subjects
Radar ,Meteorology ,Attenuation ,Rain ,Bin ,law.invention ,law ,Range (statistics) ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental science ,Satellite ,Precipitation ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Correction for attenuation ,Global Precipitation Measurement ,Remote sensing - Abstract
A precipitation retrieval algorithm is proposed for the dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) on the core satellite of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. The proposed algorithm is called the HB-DFR algorithm, in reference to the combination of Histchfeld-Bordan's attenuation correction method (HB method) and the dual-frequency ratio (DFR) method. The HB-DFR algorithm is tested with a synthetic DPR dataset produced from the standard product of the PR on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. Precipitation rates estimated by the HB-DFR algorithm at the lowest (near-surface) range bin are evaluated by comparing them with the corresponding values calculated from the drop size distribution of the synthetic dataset. For 'light precipitation' (below 1 mm h-1), precipitation rates are slightly underestimated because of the multiple-solution problem in the DFR method. For 'heavy precipitation' (above 10 mm h-1), the precipitation rates are severely underestimated, and the biases become large when thick liquid phase precipitation occurs. For 'medium precipitation' (between 1 and 10 mm h -1), the estimates are satisfactory. As almost 50% of precipitation falls as medium precipitation in the synthetic dataset, this result validates the usefulness of DPR measurements and the HB-DFR algorithm. Because the HB-DFR algorithm is a forward retrieval algorithm, it has multiple solutions and produces larger errors when applied to lower (farther) range bins. Unlike other dual-frequency algorithms, the HB-DFR algorithm can be easily switched to a single-frequency algorithm at a range bin where a measurement at one of the two frequencies is not available., IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51(12), pp.5239-5251; 2013
- Published
- 2013