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Global Precipitation Monitoring

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Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change

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Abstract

Satellite observations play a vital role in the global monitoring of precipitation because they fill in large data voids where conventional measurements such as surface rain gauges and weather radars are primarily restricted to populated land regions. Geostationary satellites, containing visible and infrared sensors, provide the most continuous observations from space; they can infer surface precipitation through relationships between cloud properties and precipitation rate. Passive microwave sensors, which operate primarily on low Earth-orbiting satellites, provide a more direct measurement of rainfall and global coverage; however, they observe the Earth less frequently than the geostationary satellites. This chapter summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of the various satellite retrieval algorithms, then describes emerging blended precipitation products that merge different satellite measurements to achieve the best possible rainfall product. Examples of the utility of such data are also provided.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank our colleagues, H. Meng, M. Sapiano, D. Vila, and N. Wang for their contributions to this chapter. Additionally, we would like to recognize the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, CA, and the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, M.D., for use of their imagery obtained from their web sites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Research Programs, NOAA/NESDIS/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Ralph Ferraro & Thomas Smith

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  1. Ralph Ferraro
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  2. Thomas Smith
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Correspondence to Ralph Ferraro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Environmental Science and Technology, George Mason University, Fairfax, 22030, USA

    John Qu

  2. Administration, NOAA/NESDIS, Center for Satellite Application and Res, National Oceanic & Atmospheric, Auth Road 5200, Camp Springs, 20746, Maryland, USA

    Alfred Powell

  3. , Climate and Water Programme, World Meteorological Organization, 7bis, Avenue de la Paix, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland

    M.V.K. Sivakumar

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Ferraro, R., Smith, T. (2013). Global Precipitation Monitoring. In: Qu, J., Powell, A., Sivakumar, M. (eds) Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5872-8_6

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