P5R.2
To what extent can raindrop size be determined by a multiple-frequency radar?
Jonathan P. Meagher, JPL/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; and Z. S. Haddad
In this paper we present an analytical treatment of the atmospheric remote sensing problem of determining the rain Drop Size Distribution (DSD) with a spaceborne multi-frequency microwave nadir-looking radar system. It is typically assumed that with two radar measurements at different frequencies one ought to be able to calculate two state variables of the DSD: a bulk quantity such as the rain rate and a distribution shape parameter. To determine if this non-linear problem can indeed be solved, we model the DSD as a Gamma distribution and use quadratic approximations to the corresponding radar-rain relations to examine the invertibility of the resulting system of equations in the case of two as well as three radar frequencies.
Poster Session 5R, TRMM/ GPM studies and algorithms
Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 6:30 PM-8:30 PM, Alvarado F and Atria
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