Extended Abstract (184K)6A.1
Classification of tropical oceanic precipitation using high altitude aircraft microwave and electric field measurements
Robbie E. Hood, NASA/MSFC, Huntsville, AL; and D. Cecil, F. J. LaFontaine, R. Blakeslee, D. Mach, G. M. Heymsfield, and F. D. Marks
During the 1998 and 2001 hurricane seasons of the Atlantic Ocean Basin, the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR), the ER-2 Doppler (EDOP) radar, and the Lightning Instrument Package (LIP) were flown aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ER-2 high altitude aircraft as part of the Third Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX-3) and the Fourth Convection And Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-4). Several hurricanes and tropical storms were sampled during these experiments. A rainfall screening technique has been developed using AMPR passive microwave observations of these tropical cyclones (TC) collected at frequencies of 10.7, 19.35, 37.1, and 85.5 GHz and verified using vertical profiles of EDOP reflectivity and lower altitude horizontal reflectivity scans collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) P-3 radar. Matching the rainfall classification results with coincident electrical field information collected by the LIP readily identify convective rain regions within the TC precipitation fields. Strengths and weaknesses of the rainfall classification procedure will be discussed as well as its potential as a real-time analysis tool for monitoring vertical updraft strength and convective intensity from a remotely operated or uninhabited aerial vehicle.
Session 6A, tropical cyclone rainfall II
Tuesday, 4 May 2004, 10:15 AM-11:45 AM, Le Jardin Room
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