DocumentCode :
77631
Title :
Estimation of Light Rainfall Using Ku-Band Dual-Polarization Radar
Author :
Haonan Chen ; Chandrasekar, V.
Author_Institution :
Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO, USA
Volume :
53
Issue :
9
fYear :
2015
fDate :
Sept. 2015
Firstpage :
5197
Lastpage :
5208
Abstract :
The light rain (less than or equal to a few mm hr-1) is critical to the Earth´s ecosystem due to the high occurrence rate, particularly in middle and high latitude (over 80%). However, it is challenging to use rainfall gauge to measure light rain due to the sampling time and bucket volume resolution. Dual-polarization radar has become an important tool for quantitative precipitation estimation because of its relatively large covering area and ability to fill the sampling void. This paper presents the application of Ku-band dual-polarization radar for light rainfall estimation. The Ku-band radar rainfall algorithms and their error structure are described. The Ku-band observations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dual-frequency Dual-polarization Doppler Radar (D3R) during the NASA Iowa Flood Studies (IFoodS) field campaign are used to derive the rainfall products. The comparisons are performed between radar rainfall estimates and ground rainfall measurements from rain gauge and Autonomous Parsivel Unit (APU). It is shown here that the radar rainfall measurements at different timescales (i.e., 5, 10, and 15 min) agree with the APU observations very well. The normalized difference error is about 26.1%, 24.8%, and 23.7%, for 5-min, 10-min, and 15-min rainfall accumulations, respectively. The excellent performance of Ku-band rainfall algorithm for light rain estimation indicates the great potential of using D3R as a ground validation tool for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite precipitation product evaluations.
Keywords :
atmospheric techniques; rain; remote sensing by radar; Autonomous Parsivel Unit; Earth ecosystem; GPM satellite precipitation product evaluations; Global Precipitation Measurement; IFoodS field campaign; Ku-band dual-polarization radar; Ku-band rainfall algorithm; NASA Dual-frequency Dual-polarization Doppler Radar; NASA Iowa Flood Studies; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; bucket volume resolution; dual-polarization radar; ground rainfall measurements; ground validation tool; light rainfall estimation; quantitative precipitation estimation; radar rainfall estimates; radar rainfall measurements; rain gauge; rainfall accumulations; rainfall gauge; rainfall products; Estimation; NASA; Radar measurements; Rain; Shape; Spaceborne radar; Dual-polarization; Ku-band radar; Ku-band rainfall algorithm; light rainfall estimation;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0196-2892
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TGRS.2015.2419212
Filename :
7112517
Link To Document :
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