Global precipitation measurement

Abstract

Observations of the space-time variability of precipitation around the globe are imperative for understanding how climate change affects the global energy and water cycle (GWEC) in terms of changes in regional precipitation characteristics (type, frequency, intensity), as well as extreme hydrologic events, such as floods and droughts. The GWEC is driven by a host of complex processes and interactions, many of which are not yet well understood. Precipitation, which converts atmospheric water vapor into rain and snow, is a central element of the GWEC. Precipitation regulates the global energy and radiation balance through coupling to clouds and water vapor (the primary greenhouse gas) and shapes global winds and atmospheric transport through latent heat release. Surface precipitation directly affects soil moisture and land hydrology and is also the primary source of freshwater in a world that is facing an emerging freshwater crisis. Accurate and timely knowledge of global precipitation is essential for understanding the multi-scale interaction of the weather, climate and ecological systems and for improving our ability to manage freshwater resources and predicting high-impact weather events including hurricanes, floods, droughts and landslides. In terms of measurements of precipitation, it is critical that data be collected at local scales over a global domain to capture the spatial and temporal diversity of falling rain and snow in meso-scale, synoptic-scale and planetary-scale events. However, given the limited weather station networks on land and the impracticality of making extensive rainfall measurements over oceans, a comprehensive description of the space and time variability of global precipitation can only be achieved from the vantage point of space. The spatial and temporal scales required to resolve the impact of precipitation for different hydrometeorological processes are illustrated in Fig. 1. This figure shows that surface water can vary on the order of minutes and meters; measurements at these scales are relevant for landslide and flooding conditions. Short-term (≲1 day) weather related events include for example, flood warnings, urban drainage and hydropower optimization. Seasonal to inter-annual (∼1 day to several decade) hydrological scale events include management of irrigation and water supply reservoirs, land use decisions and culvert operations. Oceanic processes near coastlines have fine resolution requirements, while open ocean processes can span decades or hundreds of years and thousands of kilometers. On the climate scale for long-term planning over 50 years to centuries, hydrologists must anticipate minor and major dam needs and assess environmental impacts of water resources. As can be expected, satellite observations cannot measure to all the spatial and temporal scales required for hydrometeorological applications. Nevertheless, satellites can provide certain types of data at high spatial and temporal scales. The first images of clouds in relationship to meteorological processes were provided by the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS-1), which was launched in April 1960. These early investigations noted the importance of satellite observation of clouds since precipitation is inherently linked with clouds (Kidder 1981) although properly resolving the spatio-temporal precipitation from space would prove to be a challenging task. Currently, observations of cloud tops using visible and infrared sensors from geostationary orbits such as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) spacecraft are done with near continuous (fine temporal) scans at footprint resolutions of 18 km. Kidd (2001) summarizes other geostationary satellites and reviews various approaches inferring precipitation from visible and infrared sensors. Measurements of rainfall rate inferred from cloud top data do not probe into the cloud nor provide information on the vertical structure and microphysics of clouds. Active radars at Ku, Ka and W band (~14, 35 and 95 GHz, respectively), for example, can measure profiles of precipitating hydrometeor characteristics (e.g., size) within clouds. Passive precipitation radiometers (~1089 GHz) can measure the integrated cloud water and ice paths and are used to estimate rain rate (Barrett and Beaumont 1994; Petty and Krajewski 1996; Smith et al. 1998). Passive radiometers in the 1990s and 2000s typically had horizontal surface footprints of 550 km, while radar footprints were on the order of 110 km. While there are a few active and several passive precipitation sensors in orbit, none are currently in geostationary orbit and thus the temporal resolution is limited to the number of overpasses per day. Wideband multifrequency passive radiometers can provide microphysical information about both liquid and frozen hydrometeors in clouds. Passive microwave sounders with multiple channels centered around oxygen and water vapor absorption lines provide verticallyresolved information on the temperature and water vapor profiles of clear air atmospheres and the sounder channels are also sensitive to hydrometeors for retrievals of cloud properties (Chen and Staelin 2003; Kidder et al. 2000; Spencer 1993). Current active microwave satellite radars (at Ku and W-band) provide fine-scale vertical profile structure information about atmospheric clouds (Meneghini et al. 2000; Stephens et al. 2002). Combined radar-radiometer systems, such as the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) (Kummerow et al. 2000; Simpson et al. 1988) are particularly important for studying and understanding the microphysical processes of precipitating clouds and for accurate estimates of rainfall rate. Since TRMM is a single satellite in a non-Sunsynchronous 35o orbit, it cannot provide fine temporal resolution alone. A generation of blended, 3-hourly rainfall products has emerged to exploit the temporal resolution of geosynchronous techniques, the improved accuracy of passive microwave techniques and the direct rainfall measurement from active microwave sensors (See Ebert et al. 2007, for a review of these multi-sensor techniques and past intercomparison activities). The next stage in the evolution of precipitation observations from space is the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission, which is designed to unify a constellation of research and operational satellites to provide integrated, uniformlycalibrated precipitation measurements at every location around the globe every 24 h. This Chapter begins with a brief history and background of microwave precipitation sensors, with a discussion of the sensitivity of both passive and active instruments, to trace the evolution of satellitebased rainfall techniques from an era of inference to an era of physical measurement. Next, the highly successful Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission will be described, followed by the goals and plans for the GPM Mission and the status of precipitation retrieval algorithm development. The Chapter concludes with a summary of the need for space-based precipitation measurement, current technological capabilities, near-term algorithm advancements and anticipated new sciences and societal benefits in the GPM era.