Validation and Development of Melting Layer Models Using Constraints by Active/Passive Microwave Observations of Rain and the Wind-Roughened Ocean Surface

Abstract

A physically based method is developed to estimate the microphysical structure of the melting layer in stratiform rain using airborne observations by a dual-frequency radar and a 10.7-GHz radiometer. The method employs a nonlinear optimal estimation approach to find two parameters of the gamma drop size distribution (DSD) at each radar range gate from the Ku/Ka-band reflectivities. The DSD profile is used to determine the atmospheric absorption/extinction profile, which enables the surface contribution to the measured brightness temperature to be estimated. The surface wind speed is estimated from the surface emissivity by inverting the forward model, which relates the two. Retrievals in stratiform precipitation require a model to describe the thermodynamic and electromagnetic properties of melting hydrometeors. The melting layer can contribute a majority of the total atmospheric absorption, making it a key component for accurate retrievals in stratiform rain. Several melting layer models were evaluated based on their fit to the dual-frequency reflectivity measurements in the melting layer. A candidate model is selected and tuned to match the radar measurements. The melting layer model is then incorporated into the full forward model for the brightness temperature observed by the radiometer. The surface wind speed assumed in the forward model is forced by the radiometer observations. If the actual surface wind speed is known, this approach provides a powerful constraint on the possible melting layer model. A case study is presented from an airborne campaign over areas of precipitation off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The estimated wind speeds are found to be uncorrelated with the reflectivity and their average value is within 1 m s?1 of that retrieved in a clear area adjacent to the rain.