NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Snowfall Rate Retrieval Using Passive Microwave Measurements and Its Applications in Weather Forecast and Hydrology(AMSU), Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) and Advance Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). ATMS is the follow‐on sensor to AMSU and MHS. Currently, an AMSU and MHS based land snowfall rate (SFR) product is running operationally at NOAA/NESDIS. Based on the AMSU/MHS SFR, an ATMS SFR algorithm has also been developed. The algorithm performs retrieval in three steps: snowfall detection, retrieval of cloud properties, and estimation of snow particle terminal velocity and snowfall rate. The snowfall detection component utilizes principal component analysis and a logistic regression model. It employs a combination of temperature and water vapor sounding channels to detect the scattering signal from falling snow and derives the probability of snowfall. Cloud properties are retrieved using an inversion method with an iteration algorithm and a two‐stream radiative transfer model. A method adopted to calculate snow particle terminal velocity. Finally, snowfall rate is computed by numerically solving a complex integral. The SFR products are being used mainly in two communities: hydrology and weather forecast. Global blended precipitation products traditionally do not include snowfall derived from satellites because such products were not available operationally in the past. The ATMS and AMSU/MHS SFR now provide the winter precipitation information for these blended precipitation products. Weather forecasters mainly rely on radar and station observations for snowfall forecast. The SFR products can fill in gaps where no conventional snowfall data are available to forecasters. The products can also be used to confirm radar and gauge snowfall data and increase forecasters' confidence in their prediction.
Document ID
20150002901
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Meng, Huan
(National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Camp Springs, MD, United States)
Ferraro, Ralph
(National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Camp Springs, MD, United States)
Kongoli, Cezar
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Yan, Banghua
(National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Camp Springs, MD, United States)
Zavodsky, Bradley
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Zhao, Limin
(National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Camp Springs, MD, United States)
Dong, Jun
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Wang, Nai-Yu
(National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Camp Springs, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
March 13, 2015
Publication Date
January 4, 2015
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
M14-3975
Meeting Information
Meeting: Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Country: United States
Start Date: January 4, 2015
End Date: January 8, 2015
Sponsors: American Meteorological Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available