2004 Volume 48 Pages 259-264
In this paper a basic study is presented to develop a method to correct solid precipitation data from gauge observations using the passive microwave brightness temperature data and data assimilation.
Observation and modeling results are indicating a high sensitivity of the 89GHz channel to fresh snow on the ground. The change in the brightness temperature due to snow is used to correct observed solid precipitation data. The old brightness temperature data, the adjusted precipitation and the density of the fresh snow are input parameter for a radiative transfer model. The result is compared with the new brightness temperature and by iteration the precipitation data is adjusted until the modeled value agrees well with the new brightness temperature.
Good results have been achieved using snow pit data from Sapporo and modeled brightness temperatures. A sensitivity analysis showed, that this cost minimization problem has a unique solution.
