Precipitation information is critical in understanding the hydrologic balance on a global scale and in understanding the complex interactions among the small- and large-scale components within the hydrologic cycle. The quest for precipitation information across the entire globe and at fine time resolutions is at the heart of NASA's Earth Science research effort and the deployment of satellite missions such as Aqua.
This proposal focuses on incorporating multi-instrument Aqua precipitation data (and other satellite data) into the investigators' state-of-the-art multi-satellite analysis framework, with particular emphasis on fine-scale time resolution (~3hr), mid- and high-latitude analyses over both land and water. Development of this capability will allow for the proposers to expand the latitude range and mid-latitude accuracy of the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) into middle and high latitudes to provide a globally complete analysis at roughly 3 hr resolution. This approach could also provide the basis for the next version of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) analysis and provide the basis for future products of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.
The outcome of this proposal will be a globally complete precipitation analysis at fine time resolution. Data will be drawn from AMSR and the AIRS/AMSU (AIRS suite) suite and will be extended to the use of other similar instruments (AMSU-B and ATOVS on NOAA satellites and SSM/IS on DMSP). The results areapproach is also applicable to use of NPP data in the future. CloudSat data (in the A-train with Aqua) will be used to validate and optimize the resulting middle and high latitude precipitation products. The result will be improved global precipitation analyses at time scales down to 3-hour intervals, in the form of Earth System Data Records (ESDRs)/ Climate Data Records (CDRs). The connection to the GPCP (under WCRP/GEWEX) is especially important in this regard.
Resulting precipitation fields will be validated (focusing on middle and high latitudes) to determine error structures for various applications and will be analyzed to address high-priority Earth Science issues, including teleconnections between the tropics and higher latitudes and the relation of weather-scale variations to intra-seasonal and interannual variations.
