Cloud Model-Based Simulation of Spaceborne Radar Observations

Abstract

Simulations of observations from potential spaceborne radars are made based on storm structure generated from the three-dimensional (3D) Goddard cumulus ensemble model simulation of an intense overland convective system. Five frequencies of 3, 10, 14, 35, and 95 GHz are discussed, but the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission precipitation radar sensor frequency ( 14 GHz) is the focus of this study. Radar reflectivities and their attenuation in various atmospheric conditions are studied in this simulation. With the attenuation from cloud and precipitation in the estimation of reflectivity factor (dBZ), the reflectivities in the lower atmosphere in the convective coresare significantly reduced. With spatial resolution of 4 km X 4 km, attenuation at 14 GHz may cause as large as a 20-dBZ difference between the simulated measurements of the peak (Zmp) and near-surface reflectivity (Zmp) in the most intense convective region. The Zmp occurs at various altitudes depending on the hydrometeor concentrations and their vertical distribution. Despite the significant attenuation in the intense cores, the presence of the rain maximum is easily detected by using information of Zmp. In the stratiform region, the attenuation is quite limited (usually less than 5 dBZ), and the reduction of reflectivity is mostly related to the actual vertical structure of cloud distribution. Since Zmp suffers severe attenuation and tends to underestimate surface rainfall intensity in convective regions, Zmp can be more representative for rainfall retrieval in the lower atmosphere in these regions. In the stratiform region where attenuation is negligible, however, Zmp tends to overestimate surface rainfall and Zmp is more appropriate for rainfall retrieval. A hybrid technique using a weight between the two rain intensities is testedand found potentially useful for future applications. The estimated surface rain-rate map based on this hybrid approach captures many of the details of the cloud model rain field but still slightly underestimates the rain-rate maximum.