Structure of a winter precipitation system as observed by satellites and ground-based instruments and simulated with WRF model

On December 30-31, 2005, a landfalling winter cyclone caused intense precipitation in the California and Nevada mountain and valley regions with a high hydrological impact. It was sampled by two NASA satellites, TRMM and Aqua, and a wide variety of ground-based instruments deployed by the NOAA Hydrometeorological Testbed (HMT) program. In this study, we apply satellite and ground-based observations, including TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) and Microwave Imager (TMI), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), the S-band precipitation profiling radar (S-prof), as well as simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to investigate the precipitation structure and the companion cyclone and fronts. The Goddard Satellite Data Simulation Unit (SDSU) is used to conduct brightness temperature (Tb) simulations at TMI and AMSR-E frequencies. Simulated radar reflectivities and terminal velocities (Vt) of precipitation hydrometeors are assessed. Sensitivity of different microphysical schemes on precipitation structure and their influences on Tb, reflectivity, and Vt calculations are examined.