This study shows how satellite-based passive and active microwave (MW) sensors can be used in conjunction with high-resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) simulations to provide insights of the precipitation structure of the tropical-like cyclone (TLC) Numa, which occurred on 15-19 November 2017. The goal of the paper is to characterize and monitor the precipitation at the different stages of its evolution from development to TLC phase, throughout the storm transition over the Mediterranean Sea. Observations by the NASA/JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory (GPM-CO) and by the GPM constellation of MW radiometers are used, in conjunction with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) simulations. The GPM-CO measurements are used to analyze the passive MW radiometric response to the microphysical structure of the storm, while the comparison between successive MW radiometer overpasses shows the evolution of Numa precipitation structure from its early development stage on the Ionian Sea into its TLC phase, as it persists over southern coast of Italy (Apulia region) for several hours. Measurements evidence stronger convective activity at the development phase compared to the TLC phase, when strengthening or weakening phases in the eye development, and the occurrence of warm rain processes in the areas surrounding the eye, are identified. The weak scattering and polarization signal at and above 89 GHz, the lack of scattering signal at 37 GHz, and the absence of electrical activity in correspondence of the rainbands during the TLC phase, indicate weak convection and the presence of supercooled cloud droplets at high levels. RAMS high-resolution simulations support what inferred from the observations, evidencing Numa TLC characteristics (closed circulation around a warm core, low vertical wind shear, intense surface winds, heavy precipitation), persisting for more than 24 h. Moreover, the implementation of DPR 3D reflectivity field in the RAMS data assimilation system shows a small (but non negligible) impact on the precipitation forecast over the sea up to a few hours after the DPR overpass.
The Ka–Ku Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and the Microwave Imager on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite have been collecting data for more than 3 years, providing precipitation products over the globe, including oceans and remote areas where ground-based precipitation measurements are not available. The main objective of this work is to validate the GPM-DPR products over a key climatic region with complex orography such as the Italian territory. The performances of the DPR precipitation rate products are evaluated over an 18-month period (July 2015–December 2016) using both radar and rain gauge data. The ground reference network is composed of 22 weather radars and more than 3000 rain gauges. DPR dual-frequency products generally show better performance with respect to the single-frequency (i.e., Ka- or Ku-band only) products, especially when ground radar data are taken as reference. A sensitivity analysis with respect to season and rainfall intensity is also carried out. It was found that the normal scan (NS) product outperforms the high-sensitivity scan (HS) and matched scan (MS) during the summer season. A deeper analysis is carried out to investigate the larger discrepancies between the DPR-NS product and ground reference data. The most relevant improvement of the DPR products’ performance was found by limiting the comparison to the upscaled radar data with a higher quality index. The resulting scores in comparison with ground radars are mean error (ME) = −0.44 mm h−1, RMSE = 3.57 mm h−1, and fractional standard error (FSE) = 142%, with the POD = 65% and FAR = 1% for rainfall above 0.5 mm h−1.
The spatial variability of parameters of the raindrop size distribution and its derivatives is investigated through a field study where collocated Particle Size and Velocity (Parsivel2) and two-dimensional video disdrometers were operated at six sites at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, from December 2013 to March 2014. The three-parameter exponential function was employed to determine the spatial variability across the study domain where the maximum separation distance was 2.3 km. The nugget parameter of the exponential function was set to 0.99 and the correlation distance d0 and shape parameter s0 were retrieved by minimizing the root-mean-square error, after fitting it to the correlations of physical parameters. Fits were very good for almost all 15 physical parameters. The retrieved d0 and s0 were about 4.5 km and 1.1, respectively, for rain rate (RR) when all 12 disdrometers were reporting rainfall with a rain-rate threshold of 0.1 mm h−1 for 1-min averages. The d0 decreased noticeably when one or more disdrometers were required to report rain. The d0 was considerably different for a number of parameters (e.g., mass-weighted diameter) but was about the same for the other parameters (e.g., RR) when rainfall threshold was reset to 12 and 18 dBZ for Ka- and Ku-band reflectivity, respectively, following the expected Global Precipitation Measurement mission’s spaceborne radar minimum detectable signals. The reduction of the database through elimination of a site did not alter d0 as long as the fit was adequate. The correlations of 5-min rain accumulations were lower when disdrometer observations were simulated for a rain gauge at different bucket sizes.
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