P8.18 Bayesian Retrieval of Complete Posterior Pdfs of Oceanic Rain Rate from Microwave Observations

To provide a long-term global basis of precipitation information, satellite passive microwave observations have been widely used in the past decades to estimate surface rain rate. Among various approaches, some algorithms have invoked Bayes theorem to retrieve a single instantaneous rain rate and vertical hydrometeor profiles (Evans et al., 1995; Olson et al., 1996; Kummerow et al., 1996; Bauer et al., 2001). Bayes theorem offers a rigorous theoretical framework for retrieval algorithms, however, up to now, we are unaware of any algorithm that fully exploits Bayes theorem to provide a continuous posterior probability distribution function (PDF) of rain rate.