10th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography
11th Symposium on Global Change Studies

JP3.8

Variability of Convective Precipitation from TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI)

Ye Hong, Caelum Research Corp., Rockville, MD; and C. D. Kummerow and W. S. Olson

Tropical precipitation generally occurs in two distinguishable forms: convective and stratiform. The two different types of precipitation systems have considerably different vertical profiles of latent heat release that has a crucial role in driving the circulation of the atmosphere. Thus, it is very important to study the variability of convective and stratiform precipitation. This paper presents variability of convective precipitation estimated from TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The convective/stratiform precipitation areas are classified using a combined texture-based and polarization-based algorithm. Surface rainfall rates are retrieved using the Goddard Profiling algorithm (Gprof). We will examine the spatial and temporal variability of convective precipitation for 1998. In addition, convective precipitation computed from TMI will be compared with those from the space borne Precipitation Radar (PR) and the ground-based radars for several cases.

Joint Poster Session 3, Climatology and Long-Term Satellite Data Studies: Part II (Joint with the 11th Symposium on Global Change Studies)
Thursday, 13 January 2000, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM

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