We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The Evolution of the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) for Rainfall Estimation from Passive Microwave Sensors.
- Authors
Kummerow, Christian; Hong, Y.; Olson, W. S.; Yang, S.; Adler, R. F.; McCollum, J.; Ferraro, R.; Petty, G.; Shin, D.-B.; Wilheit, T. T.
- Abstract
This paper describes the latest improvements applied to the Goddard profiling algorithm (GPROF), particularly as they apply to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Most of these improvements, however, are conceptual in nature and apply equally to other passive microwave sensors. The improvements were motivated by a notable overestimation of precipitation in the intertropical convergence zone. This problem was traced back to the algorithm's poor separation between convective and stratiform precipitation coupled with a poor separation between stratiform and transition regions in the a priori cloud model database. In addition to now using an improved convective–stratiform classification scheme, the new algorithm also makes use of emission and scattering indices instead of individual brightness temperatures. Brightness temperature indices have the advantage of being monotonic functions of rainfall. This, in turn, has allowed the algorithm to better define the uncertainties needed by the scheme's Bayesian inversion approach. Last, the algorithm over land has been modified primarily to better account for ambiguous classification where the scattering signature of precipitation could be confused with surface signals. All these changes have been implemented for both the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I). Results from both sensors are very similar at the storm scale and for global averages. Surface rainfall products from the algorithm's operational version have been compared with conventional rainfall data over both land and oceans. Over oceans, GPROF results compare well with atoll gauge data. GPROF is biased negatively by 9% with a correlation of 0.86 for monthly 2.5° averages over the atolls. If only grid boxes with two or more atolls are used, the correlation increases to 0.91 but GPROF becomes positively biased by 6%. Comparisons with TRMM ground validation products from Kwajalein reveal that GPRO...
- Subjects
RAINFALL; INTERTROPICAL convergence zone; MICROWAVE detectors
- Publication
Journal of Applied Meteorology (1988), 2001, Vol 40, Issue 11, p1801
- ISSN
0894-8763
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1175/1520-0450(2001)040<1801:TEOTGP>2.0.CO;2