Title :
Estimates of path attenuation for the TRMM radar
Author :
Meneghini, R. ; Kozu, T. ; Jones, J.A. ; Iguchi, T. ; Okamoto, K.
Author_Institution :
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Abstract :
It is well known that radar signals above 10 GHz can suffer significant attenuation in rain even over the relatively short rain paths associated with near-nadir viewing angles. Also well known is the problem of instabilities in estimating the radar reflectivity factor, Z, from measurements at a single attenuating wavelength radar. For a single-wavelength, singly polarized, non-Doppler radar such as the TRMM radar, four approaches are presently available for estimating attenuation: the Hitschfeld-Bordan, the surface reference technique (SRT), the `slope method´ and the mirror-image. A combination of the first 3 methods is used in a hybrid algorithm for rain estimation. Assessing the accuracy of the SRT is, therefore, important in determining the reliability in correcting for attenuation effects
Keywords :
atmospheric techniques; meteorological radar; microwave propagation; rain; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; tropospheric electromagnetic wave propagation; 13.796 GHz; 13.801 GHz; 2.17 cm; Hitschfeld-Bordan method; SHF; TRMM; algorithm; atmosphere; measurement technique; meteorological radar; microwave radar; near-nadir viewing angle; path attenuation; radar remote sensing; radiowave propagation; rain; rainfall; slope method; spaceborne radar; surface reference technique; Area measurement; Attenuation measurement; Extraterrestrial measurements; Radar measurements; Rain; Reflectivity; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Statistics; Wavelength measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings, 1998. IGARSS '98. 1998 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4403-0
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.1998.703683
