Merging the Infrared Fleet and the Microwave Constellation for Tropical Hydrometeorology (TAPEER) and Global Climate Monitoring (GIRAFE) Applications

Abstract

Improved monitoring of the precipitation at global scale and in conventional data sparse regions is needed to enhance our understanding of the functioning of the water and energy cycle and our ability to forecast its evolution at various scales. Decades of precipitation remote sensing research have shown that the merging of the high frequency cloud top information derived from geostationary infrared observations with the column hydrometeors vertical fluxes estimated from much less frequent passive microwave observations could mitigate the short comings of each approach and provide accurate accumulated rainfall estimates. The classical merging technique is introduced in detail and some more recent developments on the estimation of the uncertainty of the daily accumulation are presented. The products from tropical hydrometeorology and climate monitoring implementations are shown. Their performances and sensitivity are discussed, with emphasis on the configuration of the constellation. Finally, an outlook for future developments is provided.