Effects of precipitation on SSM/T-2 brightness temperature

John D. Pickle; Ronald G. Isaacs; Vida Jakabhazy; Michael K. Griffin; Vincent J. Falcone

doi:10.1117/12.227153

21 November 1995 Effects of precipitation on SSM/T-2 brightness temperature

John D. Pickle, Ronald G. Isaacs, Vida Jakabhazy, Michael K. Griffin, Vincent J. Falcone

Proceedings Volume 2584, Synthetic Aperture Radar and Passive Microwave Sensing; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.227153
Event: Satellite Remote Sensing II, 1995, Paris, France

Abstract

From studies of the special sensor microwave water vapor sounder (SSM/T-2) brightness temperature (T_b) measurements, channel signatures were identified for various surface and atmospheric conditions. The sensor consists of 5 channels: three located about the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, one at 150 GHz and a 91.65 GHz window channel. Additional sensor information was used (specifically SSM/I, OLS and GOES visible and infrared imagery) to determine the presence of clouds and precipitation in the SSM/T-2 field-of-view (FOV). Non-precipitating clouds over water generally display T_b signatures similar to clear FOVs although some differences do occur, especially for the 91 GHz channel. For data collected in the western equatorial Pacific, the presence of light rain over water caused the warmest T_b to shift to 150 GHz. As the rain rate and scattering in the FOV increased, the 183 plus or minus 1 GHz T_b became the warmest of the three atmospheric channels. For the study of the effect of precipitation over land, SSM/I and manually digitized radar (MDR) data were collocated with SSM/T-2 observations. Techniques that examined the distribution of the T_b differences between neighboring pixels appear to provide a robust technique to identify precipitation. This technique also worked over water surfaces.

Citation Download Citation

John D. Pickle, Ronald G. Isaacs, Vida Jakabhazy, Michael K. Griffin, and Vincent J. Falcone "Effects of precipitation on SSM/T-2 brightness temperature", Proc. SPIE 2584, Synthetic Aperture Radar and Passive Microwave Sensing, (21 November 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.227153

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