IMPROVEMENT OF THE RAIN RATE RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM OF GPM/DPR KA-BAND PRECIPITATION RADAR

Abstract

 GPM Core Observatory satellite was launched in February 2014. GPM Core Observatory satellite is equipped with the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), the DPR consists of a Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) and a Ka-band precipitation radar (KaPR). KaPR is useful for detecting weak rain and snowfall, and KaPR is important for high estimation precision of DPR. However, KaPR is newly installed radar, so performance is not well known. Therefore, we focus on the rain rate estimation-range of KaPR and compare the rain rate estimates by KaPR and KuPR. In addition, we improve the rain rate retrieval algorithm of KaPR and evaluate the rain rate estimates of test products.