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Effects of Nonuniform Beam Filling on Rainfall Retrieval for the TRMM Precipitation RadarThe Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) will carry the first spaceborne radar for rainfall observation. Because the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) footprint size of 4.3 km is greater than the scale of some convective rainfall events, there is concern that nonuniform filling of the PR antenna beam may bias the retrieved rain-rate profile. The authors investigate this effect theoretically and then observationally using data from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Airborne Rain Mapping Radar (ARMAR), acquired during Tropical Oceans Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment in early 1993. The authors' observational approach is to simulate TRMM PR data using the ARMAR data and compare the radar observables and retrieved rain rate from the simulated PR data with those corresponding to the high-resolution radar measurements. The authors find that the path-integrated attenuation and the resulting path-averaged rain rate are underestimated. The reflectivity and rain rate near the top of the rainfall column are overestimated. The near-surface reflectivity can be overestimated or underestimated, with a mean error very close to zero. The near-surface rain rate, however, is usually underestimated, sometimes severely.
Document ID
20000101019
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Durden, Stephen L.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Haddad, Z. S.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Kitiyakara, A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Li, F. K.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
June 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
Publisher: American Meteorological Society
Volume: 15
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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