Individually, ground-based, in situ observations, remote sensing, and regional climate modeling cannot provide the high-quality precipitation data required for hydrological prediction, especially over complex terrains. Data assimilation techniques can be used to bridge the gap between observations and models by assimilating ground observations and remote sensing products into models to improve ...

New online prototypes have been developed to extend and enhance the previous effort by facilitating investigation of product characteristics and intercomparison of precipitation products in different algorithms as well as in different versions at different spatial scales ranging from local to global without downloading data and software. Several popular Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM...

Comparison of the rain rate estimated with the assumptions of Rayleighand Mie scattering is made. We analyzed the different relationships between the radar reflective factor and rain rate (so-called Z-R relationship) with both scattering models for different DSD (droplet size distribution) and rainfall types as the wavelength is 2.2cm which is in accord with the band of TRMM/PR. Meanwhile we in...

Numerous studies conducted as part of the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) program have demonstrated the benefits of space-borne precipitation measurements. The NASA Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) is an outgrowth of TRMM that will provide improved precipitation measurements and extend those measurements to higher latitudes. GPM satellite will carry a microwave imager coupled wit...

In this paper, a global validation package for satellite aerosol optical thickness retrieval using the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations as ground truth is described. To standardize the validation procedure, the optimum time/space match-up window, the ensemble statistical analysis method, the best selection of AERONET channels and the numerical scheme used to interpolate/extrapolat...

WIND SCATTEROMETRY WITH IMPROVED AMBIGUITY SELECTION AND RAIN MODELING David Draper Electrical and Computer Engineering Doctor of Philosophy Although generally accurate, the quality of SeaWinds on QuikSCAT scatterometer ocean vector winds is compromised by certain natural phenomena and retrieval algorithm limitations. This dissertation addresses three main contributers to scatterometer estimate...