TRMM: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
565
and future satellite microwave instruments. Most ambitious is the final step, that of training
a useful infrared (or visible-infrared) algorithm that can quantitatively estimate rainfall and
replace the simple GPI. It is this last step that will allow the record of rainfall variations
to extend backward in time over more than a decade and produce a true climatology for
comparison to GCM estimates such as those in Figure 20.6. There is also a need to extend
the TRMM experience to higher latitudes to make such climatologies truly global. This is a
difficult problem because of the fundamentally different nature of stratiform precipitation in
baroclinic wave systems from the convective systems that dominate tropical rainfall. Planning
is currently taking place for a possible TRMM follow-on mission to address these concerns.
Acknowledgments
I thank William Kovari for assistance with the figures used in this paper. This research was
supported by the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.
20.8 References
Adler RF, Negri AJ (1988) A satellite infrared technique to estimate tropical convective and
stratiform rainfall. J Appl Meteor 27: 30-51
Adler RF, Yeh H-YM, Prasad N, Tao W-K, Simpson J (1992) Microwave simulations
of a tropical rainfall system with a three-dimensional cloud model. J Appl Meteor 30: 924-953
Adler RF, Negri AJ, Keehn PR, Hakkarinen 1M (1993) Estimation of monthly rainfall
over Japan and surrounding waters from a combination of low-orbit microwave and geosynchronous IR data. J Appl Meteor 32: 335-356
Arkin PA (1979) The relationship between the fractional coverage of high cloud and rainfall
accumulations during GATE over the B-scale array. Mon Wea Rev 107: 1382-1387
Arkin PA, Meisner BN (1987) The relationship between large-scale convective rainfall and
cold cloud over the Western Hemisphere during 1982-84. Mon Wea Rev 115: 51-74
Atlas D, Rosenfeld D, Short DA (1990) The estimation of convective rainfall by area
integrals, Part I: The theoretical and empirical basis. J Geophys Res 95: 2153-2160
Atlas D, Bell TL (1991) The relation of radar to cloud area-time integrals and implications
for rain measurements from space. Mon Wea Rev 120: 1997-2008
Dai A (1995) Global precipitation variability and its relationship to other climate changes.
Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New York
Del Genio AD (1996) Observational requirements for modeling of global and regional climate
change. This volume, chapter 2
Del Genio AD, Yao M-S, Kovari W, Lo KK-W (1996) A prognostic cloud water parameterization for global climate models. J Climate 9: 270-304
Fu R, Del Genio AD, Rossow WB (1990) Behavior of deep convective clouds in the tropical
Pacific deduced from ISCCP radiances. J Climate 3: 1129-1152
Fu R, Del Genio AD, Rossow WB (1994) Influence of ocean surface conditions on atmospheric vertical thermodynamic structure and deep convection. J Climate 7: 1092-1108
Fujita M, Okamoto K, Yoshikado S, Nakamura K (1985) Inference of rain rate profile and
path-integrated rain rate by an airborne microwave rain scatterometer. Radio Sci 20: 631-642
565
and future satellite microwave instruments. Most ambitious is the final step, that of training
a useful infrared (or visible-infrared) algorithm that can quantitatively estimate rainfall and
replace the simple GPI. It is this last step that will allow the record of rainfall variations
to extend backward in time over more than a decade and produce a true climatology for
comparison to GCM estimates such as those in Figure 20.6. There is also a need to extend
the TRMM experience to higher latitudes to make such climatologies truly global. This is a
difficult problem because of the fundamentally different nature of stratiform precipitation in
baroclinic wave systems from the convective systems that dominate tropical rainfall. Planning
is currently taking place for a possible TRMM follow-on mission to address these concerns.
Acknowledgments
I thank William Kovari for assistance with the figures used in this paper. This research was
supported by the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.
20.8 References
Adler RF, Negri AJ (1988) A satellite infrared technique to estimate tropical convective and
stratiform rainfall. J Appl Meteor 27: 30-51
Adler RF, Yeh H-YM, Prasad N, Tao W-K, Simpson J (1992) Microwave simulations
of a tropical rainfall system with a three-dimensional cloud model. J Appl Meteor 30: 924-953
Adler RF, Negri AJ, Keehn PR, Hakkarinen 1M (1993) Estimation of monthly rainfall
over Japan and surrounding waters from a combination of low-orbit microwave and geosynchronous IR data. J Appl Meteor 32: 335-356
Arkin PA (1979) The relationship between the fractional coverage of high cloud and rainfall
accumulations during GATE over the B-scale array. Mon Wea Rev 107: 1382-1387
Arkin PA, Meisner BN (1987) The relationship between large-scale convective rainfall and
cold cloud over the Western Hemisphere during 1982-84. Mon Wea Rev 115: 51-74
Atlas D, Rosenfeld D, Short DA (1990) The estimation of convective rainfall by area
integrals, Part I: The theoretical and empirical basis. J Geophys Res 95: 2153-2160
Atlas D, Bell TL (1991) The relation of radar to cloud area-time integrals and implications
for rain measurements from space. Mon Wea Rev 120: 1997-2008
Dai A (1995) Global precipitation variability and its relationship to other climate changes.
Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New York
Del Genio AD (1996) Observational requirements for modeling of global and regional climate
change. This volume, chapter 2
Del Genio AD, Yao M-S, Kovari W, Lo KK-W (1996) A prognostic cloud water parameterization for global climate models. J Climate 9: 270-304
Fu R, Del Genio AD, Rossow WB (1990) Behavior of deep convective clouds in the tropical
Pacific deduced from ISCCP radiances. J Climate 3: 1129-1152
Fu R, Del Genio AD, Rossow WB (1994) Influence of ocean surface conditions on atmospheric vertical thermodynamic structure and deep convection. J Climate 7: 1092-1108
Fujita M, Okamoto K, Yoshikado S, Nakamura K (1985) Inference of rain rate profile and
path-integrated rain rate by an airborne microwave rain scatterometer. Radio Sci 20: 631-642