Title :
Rain Observations by a Multifrequency Dual-Polarized Radiometer
Author :
Battaglia, Alessandro ; Saavedra, Pablo ; Simmer, Clemens ; Rose, Thomas
Author_Institution :
Meteorol. Inst., Univ. of Bonn, Bonn
fDate :
4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
During the Convective and Orographically Induced Precipitation Study, advanced microwave radiometer for rain identification has continuously acquired measurements at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility in the Black Forest from the beginning of August until December 2007. The radiometer has six channels measuring in horizontal and vertical polarizations at 10.65, 21.0, and 36.5 GHz. Rainy events have been selected out of the entire database according to collocated gauges and, subsequently, analyzed. Measured brightness temperatures and (vertical-horizontal) polarization differences are interpreted by comparing with radiative transfer simulations, which account for the presence of nonspherical particles in preferential orientation. Measurements confirm the importance of the polarization signal for separating the effect introduced by non-Rayleigh scatterers and, therefore, the rain from the cloud component. More quantitative interpretation of the signal requires a better understanding of the role played by melting particles and an identification of the 3-D structure of the precipitating system under observation. Both aspects will be tackled in the near future by exploiting the synergy with a coinstalled micro rain radar.
Keywords :
atmospheric techniques; clouds; radiative transfer; rain; 3D precipitating system structure; AD 2007 08 to 12; Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility; Black Forest; Convective and Orographically Induced Precipitation Study; brightness temperatures; cloud component; frequency 10.65 GHz; frequency 21.0 GHz; frequency 36.5 GHz; micro rain radar; multifrequency dual-polarized radiometer; nonRayleigh scatterers; nonspherical particles; particles melting; polarization signal; radiative transfer simulations; rain observations; Ground-based remote sensing; microwave radiometry; radiative transfer; rainfall;
Journal_Title :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/LGRS.2009.2013484