A Next-generation Microwave Rainfall Retrieval Algorithm for use by TRMM and GPM

Passive microwave rainfall algorithms have evolved steadily from those designed for the early Electronically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR), through the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on Nimbus-7, and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) instruments flying on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). A number of algorithms fitting roughly three classes have emerged. These are (a) the “emission type” algorithms (e.g., Wilheit et al. 1991; Berg and Chase 1992; Chang et al. 1999) that use low-frequency channels to detect the increased radiances due to rain over radiometrically cold oceans; (b) the “scattering” algorithms (Spencer et al. 1983; Grody 1991; Ferraro and Marks 1995) that correlate rainfall to radiance depressions caused by ice scattering present in many precipitating clouds; and (c) the “multichannel inversion” type algorithms (Olson 1989; Mugnai et al. 1993; Kummerow and Giglio 1994; Smith et al. 1994; Petty 1994; Bauer et al. 2001; Kummerow et al. 2001) that seek to invert the entire radiance vector simultaneously. Among these, the Wilheit et al. (1991) and Kummerow et al. (2001) algorithms are used operationally for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) as well as the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) flying on Aqua, while the Wilheit et al. (1991) and Ferraro and Marks (1995) algorithms are used with SSM/I in the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) over ocean and land, respectively. The Bauer et al. (2001) algorithm is used at ECMWF

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