Expanding the “Multi-Sensor” in MRMS: Seamless High-Resolution CONUS QPE in the GOES-R/GPM Era

The Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system produces over a hundred products operationally for the Contiguous United States (CONUS) with high spatiotemporal resolution. They are derived from a combination of multi-radar mosaics of the U.S. WSR-88D and Canadian networks, aggregated datasets of rain gauge and lightning networks, and hourly NWP analysis fields. MRMS products have a wide range of applications in three primary areas: severe weather, hydrology, and aviation.

The launches of GPM in 2014 and GOES-R in 2016 represent a major leap forward in terms of satellite observing capabilities, especially for precipitation. These new platforms offer improved resolution and more detailed analysis of precipitation characteristics through the use of an dual-frequency active radar sensor (GPM), and expanded spectral bands and real-time CONUS lightning detection (GOES-R).

In order to maximize the benefits of all the available remote sensing platforms over the CONUS, the various data sources need to be resampled to a common grid and blended to produce a final, seamless product (e.g., instantaneous rainfall rate). This presentation will describe the approach to integrate satellite precipitation estimates into the MRMS suite of QPE products with initial evaluation of QPE accuracy with and without satellite inputs.