Global oceanic precipitation from the MSU during 1979-91 and comparisons to other climatologies
Journal Article
·
· Journal of Climate; (United States)
- NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (United States)
Oceanic precipitation is estimated on a 2.5[degrees] grid for the period 1979-1991 from Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) channels 1, 2, and 3 data gathered by seven separate TIROS-N satellites. Precipitation is diagnosed when cloud water and rainwater-induced radiometric warming of the channel 1 brightness temperatures (T[sub b]) exceeds a cumulative frequency distribution threshold of 15% after correction for airmass temperature determined from the channel 2 and 3 measurements. After intercalibration between satellites, the 13-year gridpoint field of average T[sub b] warming is calibrated in precipitation units with data from five to ten years of globally distributed low-elevation island and coastal rain accumulation measurements from 132 gauges. The calibration involves a single scale factor, and has a dependence on air temperature that is estimated from an MSU climatology. Comparisons between the satellite and raingage measurements of the average cycle in monthly precipitation are presented for 75 raingage locations from different climatic regimes. At 2.5[degrees] gridpoint resolution, peak annual rainfall (5600 mm) occurs in a quasistationary portion of the ITCZ over the eastern Pacific, while peak monthly rainfall (over 900 mm) occurs in the northeastern Bay of Bengal in June. 50 refs., 22 figs., 1 tab.
- OSTI ID:
- 5418616
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Climate; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Climate; (United States) Vol. 6:7; ISSN JLCLEL; ISSN 0894-8755
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992
· Journal of Climate; (United States)
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OSTI ID:6625118