Comparison of TRMM PR V6 and V7 focusing heavy rainfall

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) / Precipitation Radar (PR) has been working for more than 12 years, and the latest version (Version 7; V7 in short) of the standard product is published in 2011. A test product (called ITE233), which is essentially the same with the final product of V7, is compared with the previous version (Version 6; V6 in short). Generally, rain rate estimates are larger in V7 than in V6 both over land and over ocean. Histogram, the incident angle dependence, and the geographical distribution of heavy rainfall events are shown and the reasons why rain rates are increased over land in going from V6 to V7 are discussed.