STUDIES OF THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE MODEL AND THE MICROWAVE ATTENUATION OF CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION OVER TROPICAL OCEAN AREA*

Using radiosonde data and other related observations in the TOGA-COARE IOP(from November 1,1992 to February 28,1993),the microwave attenuation of non-precipitating clouds is investigated based on microwave radiative transfer model(MRTM) at the specific frequencies of 6.8,10.65,13.9,19.35,22.235,37.0,85.5 and 90.0 GHz.Besides,utilizing the data of the airborne radar and radiometer at 13.8 GHz in the IOP(Intensive Observation Period),vertical structure models for different types of precipitating clouds are obtained,and also the microwave attenuation of precipitating cloud is studied.Some statistical characteristics of 13.8 GHz microwave path integrated attenuation for stratiform and convective precipitating clouds are presented.The results given here are valuable for the spaceborne microwave remote sensing of precipitation,and the cloud and precipitation attenuation corrections in the spaceborne microwave remote sensing of earth surface over tropical ocean area.