Precipitation Estimation from the NASA TROPICS Mission: Initial Retrievals and Validation
Name
remotesensing-14-02992-v2.pdf
Size
8.51 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
2609f5f4d51ed02cd0a6f25b11dc2495
Author(s)
Kidd, Chris
Matsui, Toshi
Blackwell, William
Braun, Scott
Leslie, Robert
Griffith, Zach
Date Issued
June 22, 2022
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Remote Sensing 14 (13): 2992 (2022)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This paper describes the initial results of precipitation estimates from the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Millimeter-wave Sounder (TMS) using the Precipitation Retrieval and Profiling Scheme (PRPS). The TROPICS mission consists of a Pathfinder CubeSat and a constellation of six CubeSats, providing a low-cost solution to the frequent sampling of precipitation systems across the Tropics. The TMS instrument is a 12-channel cross-track scanning radiometer operating at frequencies of 91.655 to 204.8 GHz, providing similar resolutions to current passive microwave sounding instruments. These retrievals showcase the potential of the TMS instrument for precipitation retrievals. The PRPS has been modified for use with the TMS using a database based upon observations from current sounding sensors. The results shown here represent the initial postlaunch version of the retrieval scheme, as analyzed for the Pathfinder CubeSat launched on 30 June 2021. In terms of monthly precipitation estimates, the results fall within the mission specifications and are similar in performance to retrievals from other sounding instruments. At the instantaneous scale, the results are very promising.
MIT Department
Lincoln Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14132992
