scholarly journals SLALOM: An All-Surface Snow Water Path Retrieval Algorithm for the GPM Microwave Imager

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Rysman ◽  
Giulia Panegrossi ◽  
Paolo Sanò ◽  
Anna Marra ◽  
Stefano Dietrich ◽  
...  

This paper describes a new algorithm that is able to detect snowfall and retrieve the associated snow water path (SWP), for any surface type, using the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI). The algorithm is tuned and evaluated against coincident observations of the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) onboard CloudSat. It is composed of three modules for (i) snowfall detection, (ii) supercooled droplet detection and (iii) SWP retrieval. This algorithm takes into account environmental conditions to retrieve SWP and does not rely on any surface classification scheme. The snowfall detection module is able to detect 83% of snowfall events including light SWP (down to 1 × 10−3 kg·m−2) with a false alarm ratio of 0.12. The supercooled detection module detects 97% of events, with a false alarm ratio of 0.05. The SWP estimates show a relative bias of −11%, a correlation of 0.84 and a root mean square error of 0.04 kg·m−2. Several applications of the algorithm are highlighted: Three case studies of snowfall events are investigated, and a 2-year high resolution 70°S–70°N snowfall occurrence distribution is presented. These results illustrate the high potential of this algorithm for snowfall detection and SWP retrieval using GMI.

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Dong-Jun Seo ◽  
David Kitzmiller ◽  
Haksu Lee ◽  
Robert J. Kuligowski ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper assesses the accuracy of satellite quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) from two versions of the Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval (SCaMPR) algorithm relative to that of gridded gauge-only QPEs. The second version of SCaMPR uses the QPEs from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar and Microwave Imager as predictands whereas the first version does not. The assessments were conducted for 22 catchments in Texas and Louisiana against National Weather Service operational multisensor QPE. Particular attention was given to the density below which SCaMPR QPEs outperform gauge-only QPEs and effects of TRMM ingest. Analyses indicate that SCaMPR QPEs can be competitive in terms of correlation and CSI against sparse gauge networks (with less than one gauge per 3200–12 000 km2) and over 1–3-h scale, but their relative strengths diminish with temporal aggregation. In addition, the major advantage of SCaMPR QPEs is its relatively low false alarm rates, whereas gauge-only QPEs exhibit better skill in detecting rainfall—though the detection skill of SCaMPR QPEs tends to improve at higher rainfall thresholds. Moreover, it was found that ingesting TRMM QPEs help mitigate the positive overall bias in SCaMPR QPEs, and improve the detection of moderate–heavy and particularly wintertime precipitation. Yet, it also tends to elevate the false alarm rate, and its impacts on detection rates can be slightly negative for summertime storms. The implications for adoption of TRMM and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) QPEs for NWS operations are discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 909-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohiko Masunaga ◽  
Christian D. Kummerow

Abstract A methodology to analyze precipitation profiles using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and precipitation radar (PR) is proposed. Rainfall profiles are retrieved from PR measurements, defined as the best-fit solution selected from precalculated profiles by cloud-resolving models (CRMs), under explicitly defined assumptions of drop size distribution (DSD) and ice hydrometeor models. The PR path-integrated attenuation (PIA), where available, is further used to adjust DSD in a manner that is similar to the PR operational algorithm. Combined with the TMI-retrieved nonraining geophysical parameters, the three-dimensional structure of the geophysical parameters is obtained across the satellite-observed domains. Microwave brightness temperatures are then computed for a comparison with TMI observations to examine if the radar-retrieved rainfall is consistent in the radiometric measurement space. The inconsistency in microwave brightness temperatures is reduced by iterating the retrieval procedure with updated assumptions of the DSD and ice-density models. The proposed methodology is expected to refine the a priori rain profile database and error models for use by parametric passive microwave algorithms, aimed at the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, as well as a future TRMM algorithms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 2741-2757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Gong ◽  
Dong L. Wu

Abstract. Scattering differences induced by frozen particle microphysical properties are investigated, using the vertically (V) and horizontally (H) polarized radiances from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) 89 and 166 GHz channels. It is the first study on frozen particle microphysical properties on a global scale that uses the dual-frequency microwave polarimetric signals.From the ice cloud scenes identified by the 183.3 ± 3 GHz channel brightness temperature (Tb), we find that the scattering by frozen particles is highly polarized, with V–H polarimetric differences (PDs) being positive throughout the tropics and the winter hemisphere mid-latitude jet regions, including PDs from the GMI 89 and 166 GHz TBs, as well as the PD at 640 GHz from the ER-2 Compact Scanning Submillimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSSIR) during the TC4 campaign. Large polarization dominantly occurs mostly near convective outflow regions (i.e., anvils or stratiform precipitation), while the polarization signal is small inside deep convective cores as well as at the remote cirrus region. Neglecting the polarimetric signal would easily result in as large as 30 % error in ice water path retrievals. There is a universal bell curve in the PD–TBV relationship, where the PD amplitude peaks at  ∼  10 K for all three channels in the tropics and increases slightly with latitude (2–4 K). Moreover, the 166 GHz PD tends to increase in the case where a melting layer is beneath the frozen particles aloft in the atmosphere, while 89 GHz PD is less sensitive than 166 GHz to the melting layer. This property creates a unique PD feature for the identification of the melting layer and stratiform rain with passive sensors.Horizontally oriented non-spherical frozen particles are thought to produce the observed PD because of different ice scattering properties in the V and H polarizations. On the other hand, turbulent mixing within deep convective cores inevitably promotes the random orientation of these particles, a mechanism that works effectively in reducing the PD. The current GMI polarimetric measurements themselves cannot fully disentangle the possible mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 4565
Author(s):  
Maria Panfilova ◽  
Vladimir Karaev

The algorithm to retrieve wind speed in a wide swath from the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) was developed for the data of Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) operating in scanning mode installed onboard a Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite. The data for Ku-band radar were used. Equivalent NRCS values at nadir were estimated in a wide swath under the geometrical optics approximation from off-nadir observations. Using these equivalent NRCS nadir values and the sea buoys data, the new parameterization of dependence between NRCS at nadir and the wind speed was obtained. The algorithm was validated using ASCAT (Advanced Scatterometer) data and revealed good accuracy. DPR data are promising for determining wind speed in coastal areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Mroz ◽  
Mario Montopoli ◽  
Giulia Panegrossi ◽  
Luca Baldini ◽  
Alessandro Battaglia ◽  
...  

<p>In this talk, surface snowfall rate estimates from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission’s Core Observatory sensors and the CloudSat radar are compared to those from the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) radar composite product over the continental United States. The analysis spans a period between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2020 and covers the following products: the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar product (2A.GPM.DPR) and its single frequency counterparts (2A.GPM.Ka, 2A.GPM.Ku); GPM Combined Radar Radiometer Algorithm (2B.GPM.DPRGMI.CORRA); the CloudSat Snow Profile product (2C-SNOW-PROFILE) and two passive microwave retrievals i.e. the Goddard PROFiling algorithm (2A.GPM.GMI.GPROF) and the Snow retrievaL ALgorithm fOr gMi (SLALOM). </p><p>The 2C-SNOW product has the highest Heidke Skill Score (HSS=75%) for detecting snowfall among all the analysed products. SLALOM ranks the second (60%) while the Ka-band products falls at the end of the spectrum, with the HSS of 10% only. Low detection capabilities of the DPR products are a result of its low sensitivity. All the GPM retrievals underestimate not only the snow occurances but also snowfall volumes. Underestimation by a factor of two is present for all the GPM products compared to MRMS data. Large discrepancies (RMSE of 0.7 to 1.5 mm/h) between space-borne and ground-based snowfall rate estimates can be attributed to the complexity of ice scattering properties and differences in the algorithms' assumptions.</p>


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