The CAMEX4 and CRYSTAL FACE field campaigns provided a unique opportunity to study the properties of the radar echoes observed in Southern Florida the Florida Keys. The NASA polarimetric (NPOL) 10 cm radar was deployed during both campaigns. During CAMEX4, NPOL was located near Key West. For CRYSTAL FACE, NPOL was deployed on the southwest side of the Florida peninsula south of Naples.

In CAMEX4, NPOL was deployed from mid-August to the end of September 2001. NPOL was in the field during July 2002 for CRYSTAL FACE. The CAMEX4 dataset provides an opportunity to study precipitation characteristics over ocean whereas the CRYSTAL FACE dataset provides an opportunity to study precipitation processes over land. The main motivation of this study is to determine if the properties of echoes differ over the ocean in comparison to over land for these two sites. To quantify the differences, we characterize the precipitation by horizontal extent and vertical structure observed over ocean and land. Also, we make inferences about source regions and growth mechanisms between ocean and land convection. Finally, the diurnal distribution of convection is examined. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Missing (TRMM) satellite passed over NPOL many times during both campaigns. In this study, we plan to compare the vertical profiles of precipitation observed over ocean and land with the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) retrievals.