Precipitation: Measurement,remote sensing,climatology and modeling

This review paper deals with four aspects of precipitation: measurement, remote sensing, climatology and modeling. The measurement of precipitation is summarized in terms of the instruments that count and measure drop sizes (defined as disdrometers) and the instruments that measure an average quantity proportional to the integrated volume of an ensemble of raindrops (these instruments are normally called rain gauges). Remote sensing of precipitation is accomplished with ground based radar and from satellite retrievals and these two approaches are separately discussed. The climatology of precipitation has evolved through the years from the traditional rain gauge data analyses to the more sophisticated data bases that result from a coalescence of data and information on precipitation that is available from several sources into amalgamated products. Recently, rain observations from both ground and space have been assimilated into regional and global numerical weather prediction models aiming at improved moisture analysis and better forecasts of extreme weather events. The current status and the main outstanding issues related to precipitation forecasting are discussed, providing a basic structure for research coordination aimed at the improvement of modeling, observation and data assimilation applicable to global and regional scales.     

Precipitation: Measurement,remote sensing,climatology and modeling

This review paper deals with four aspects of precipitation: measurement, remote sensing, climatology and modeling. The measurement of precipitation is summarized in terms of the instruments that count and measure drop sizes (defined as disdrometers) and the instruments that measure an average quantity proportional to the integrated volume of an ensemble of raindrops (these instruments are normally called rain gauges). Remote sensing of precipitation is accomplished with ground based radar and from satellite retrievals and these two approaches are separately discussed. The climatology of precipitation has evolved through the years from the traditional rain gauge data analyses to the more sophisticated data bases that result from a coalescence of data and information on precipitation that is available from several sources into amalgamated products. Recently, rain observations from both ground and space have been assimilated into regional and global numerical weather prediction models aiming at improved moisture analysis and better forecasts of extreme weather events. The current status and the main outstanding issues related to precipitation forecasting are discussed, providing a basic structure for research coordination aimed at the improvement of modeling, observation and data assimilation applicable to global and regional scales.     

Measuring crop residue cover using remote sensing techniques

Summary Crop residues are managed under conservation tillage programs to leave as much as possible on the surface for minimization soil erosion and for improving water quality. Because current methods for measuring crop residue cover are tediuous and somewhat subjective, there is a need for new methods to measure residue cover that are rapid, accurate, and objective. We discuss the potential for discriminating crop residues from soils using reflectance and fluorescence techniques and examine experimentally the changes in wheat residue fluorescence during weathering. The fluorescence of crop residue was a board band phenomenon with emissions extending from 420 to 600 nm for excitation of 350–420 nm. Soils had low intensity broad band emissions over the 400–690 nm region for excitations of 300–600 nm. We found that the fluorescence intensities for the crop residues were much greater than the fluorescence of the soils, but as the crop residues decompose, their blue-green fluorescence intensities approach the fluorescence of the soils. We conclude that fluorescence techniques are less ambiguous and better suited for discriminating crop residues from soils than the reflectance methods. However, the potential problems, that must be addressed to implement the fluorescence technique, are (i) adequate excitation energy must be supplied to induce fluorescence and (ii) the fluorescence signal is small relative to normal, ambient sunlight. Nevertheless, if properly implemented, we believe that the fluorescence techniques can be used to quantify crop residue cover in the field.With 7 Figures     

Evaluating evapotranspiration using data mining instead of physical-based model in remote sensing

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Precise calculations for determining the water requirements of plants and the extent of evapotranspiration are crucial in determining the volume of water...     

Local and remote impacts of a tropical Atlantic salinity anomaly

The climatic impacts of an enhanced evaporation prescribed during 50 years in the tropical Atlantic are investigated in a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model. Locally, the salinity increase leads to a rapid deepening and cooling of the surface mixed layer. This induces a deepening of the equatorial undercurrent and an intensification of the south equatorial current. A remote atmospheric response to the tropical Atlantic perturbation is detected in the North Atlantic sector after ten years. It has the form of a robust wave-like tropospheric perturbation seemingly excited by the weakening of atmospheric deep convection over the Amazonian basin. Meanwhile, the salt anomaly is carried northward by the mean oceanic circulation. It is traced up to the convection sites and then on its return path at depth towards lower latitudes. Consistent with the density increase, deep convection is enhanced after the arrival of the salt anomaly and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) intensifies about 20 years after the beginning of the perturbation. The adjustment of the tropical Atlantic to the AMOC intensification then modifies its initial response to the freshwater forcing, leading to a weaker cooling in the northern tropical Atlantic than in the southern tropical Atlantic, a slight northward shift of the tropical Atlantic precipitation pattern and an intensification of the North Brazil current. On the other hand, no significant anomalous precipitations are found in the Pacific. The initial remote atmospheric response is also modulated, by an NAO-like response to the AMOC intensification.     

Cloud top height retrieval using polarizing remote sensing data of POLDER

A retrieval method of cloud top heights using polarizing remote sensing is proposed in this paper. Using the vector radiative transfer model in a coupled atmosphere-ocean system, the factors influencing the upwelling linear polarizing radiance at top-of-atmosphere are analyzed, which show that the upwelling linear polarizing radiance varies remarkably with the cloud top height, but has negligible sensitivity with cloud albedo and aerosol scattering above the cloud layer. Based on this property, a cloud top height retrieval algorithm using polarizing remote sensing was developed. The algorithm has been applied to the polarizing remote sensing data of Polarization and Directionality of the Earth＇s Reflectances-2 （POLDER-2）. The retrieved cloud top height from POLDER-2 compares well with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS） operational product with a bias of-0.83 km and standard deviation of 1.56 km.     

Land remote sensing technology and methodology

Remote sensing is a tool for gathering information about the Earth's surface and monitoring how it changes. A large number of remote sensing systems have been developed that exploit different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and that produce data in different formats at varying scales and costs. These data may be acquired for virtually any place on Earth. A body of manual and automated techniques have evolved for processing and interpreting remote sensing data. The selections of a remote sensing system and of the techniques by which data are processed are driven by information requirements of varying detail and constrained by cost.     

Forecasting mesoscale convective systems in the Urals using the WRF model and remote sensing data

The results are presented ofmodeling the formation and evolution ofmesoscale convective systems (MCS) accompanied by severe weather events over the territory of the Western Urals by the WRF-ARW numerical model of the atmosphere. Twenty-three cases of mesoscale convective complexes and mesoscale squall lines are considered for 2002-2015. The Terra/Aqua MODIS data, the data of weather radars installed in Perm and Izhevsk, and the data from the Roshydromet observation network were used to verify the model forecasts. It is demonstrated that the parameters of MCS intensity are simulated by the model with high reliability; however, the quality of the forecast of the spatial position of MCS is unsatisfactory in most cases. It is revealed that the model grid spacing strongly affects the forecast skill scores. In some cases the model successfully simulates the formation and evolution of MCS accompanied by severe weather events and can be used for their short-range forecast with the time accuracy of ±(1-2) hours.     

The remote sensing of wind velocity in the lower troposphere using an acoustic sounder

Acoustic sounding is a remote sensing technique which may be employed not only for the study of the structure of the lower troposphere, but also for the measurement of wind velocity using turbulent scattering regions as tracers or natural targets. Principles involved in the use of both angle of arrival and Doppler techniques for such wind measurements are summarized. Experimental results, which are presented for thermal plumes, structure associated with airflow over hills and a turbulent region of the radiation inversion, illustrate the potential of the acoustic sounding technique for research into boundary-layer meteorology.     

Modelling the ground heat flux of an urban area using remote sensing data

Summary During the Basel Urban Boundary Layer Experiment (BUBBLE) conducted in 2002, micrometeorological in-situ data were collected for different sites using a variety of instruments. This provides a unique data set for urban climate studies. Nevertheless, the spatial distribution of energy and heat fluxes can only be taken into account with remote sensing methods or numerical models. Therefore, multiple satellite images from different platforms (NOAA-AVHRR, MODIS and LANDSAT ETM+) were acquired, processed and analysed. In addition, a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) and a 1 m resolution digital surface model (DSM) of a large part of the city of Basel was utilized. This paper focuses on the calculation and modelling of the ground (or storage) heat flux density using remotely sensed data combined with in-situ measurements using three different approaches. First, an empirical regression function was generated to estimate the storage heat flux from NDVI values second approach used the Objective Hysteresis Model (OHM) which is often used for in-situ measurements. The last method used information of the geometric parameters of urban street canyons, computed from the high resolution digital urban surface model. Modelled and measured data are found to be in agreement within ±30 Wm⁻² and result in a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.95.     

中小城市地表温度空间分异及其与下垫面关系的遥感影像研究

以Landsat TM 影像为主要数据源,采用单窗算法反演河南省南阳市市区的地表温度。在GIS支持下,研究全区地表温度的空间分异特征,并探讨了地表温度与下垫面特征的关系。结果显示：研究区内高温斑块主要集中在仓储区和商业与公共服务区,该类区域过高的LST对城市环境有明显的负面影响;拦蓄河流所营造的水体是面积较大的低温斑块,对改善城市热环境和中小型城市拦蓄河流措施有一定意义;研究区内LST的空间自相关性在不同方向上有明显差别,东-西方向和东北-西南方向上空间自相关的范围较大,这种格局与区内水体走向有关;地表温度与道路密度指数呈明显正相关。提出中小城市可在仓储用地和交通发达地段周边规划绿地和水体,以抑制热岛呈大面积连片分布。     

Latent heat fluxes simulated with a non-hydrostatic weather forecast model using actual surface properties from measurements and remote sensing

In this study the influence of land-surface parameters on latent heat fluxes simulated with the numerical weather prediction model Lokalmodell (LM) of the German Meteorological Service is investigated. The area of interest is the LITFASS area during the LITFASS-2003 campaign. Based on simulations with varying soil and vegetation properties, we confirm that simulated latent heat fluxes strongly depend on soil moisture and leaf area index. Both parameters are difficult to obtain from in situ measurements with sufficient spatial resolution over heterogeneous land surfaces. Therefore, a procedure is proposed to determine area average values of soil moisture from time domain reflectometer measurements performed at a limited number of sites. The area averages cover the 7 × 7 km² grid cells of the LM around Lindenberg (south-east of Berlin). Furthermore, satellite inferred plant parameters from NOAA–AVHRR are used to initialise model runs; the derived vegetation parameters show notable differences with those in the standard input of LM. The latent heat fluxes from the LM are compared with the aggregated eddy-covariance-measurements, and while the operational LM shows a strong overestimation of latent heat fluxes, it is demonstrated that the application of land-surface parameters derived from measurements can significantly reduce the deviation between the simulated and measured latent heat fluxes.     

Applications of a two-flow model for remote sensing of substances in water

A version of the two-flow radiative transfer model is presented as a simple method to study the relationship between substances in water and the backscattered radiation field. It is shown that under the assumption of a diffuse radiative input into a water body, the irradiance attenuation coefficient k can be regarded as an inherent property. A cuvette system is presented which allows one to measure and calculate the attenuation coefficient k, the absorption coefficient a and the backscattering coefficient Bb of various substances. The model can be used to check the applicability of a remote sensing technique for a specific research area and for specific parameters, and to estimate the expected accuracy, and the signal depth. The inversion of the model can be applied as a technique to estimate concentrations in water from the backscattered radiation. The critical assumption of a diffuse radiative input and transfer, which has to be made when using the model for natural conditions, is discussed.The research work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

大气微波辐射起伏及其遥感

本文讨论了大气微波辐射起伏的机制。推导出利用大气氧气微波辐射起伏统计特征,探测大气温度结构常数分布与风分布的遥感方程。对遥感方程核函数的基本性质进行了讨论。     

一种基于卫星遥感与地面测站数据融合技术的雪深动态反演方法

提出了一种新的基于被动微波遥感和地面测站数据融合技术的雪深动态反演方法.这种新方法不再依赖单一的地面测站数据或卫星遥感数据,而是利用它们联合建立雪盖可信度指数,共同确定雪盖分布;然后在此基础上采用时空距离权重法设定反演系数动态参数化方案,反演雪深.这种雪深反演方法具有以下特点:针对不同时空条件下反演系数的动态差异问题,提出利用实时测站观测雪深,灵活调整雪深反演系数的解决方案,使反演系数具备随时空动态调整的能力,这是与静态反演方法最大的区别;充分利用了被动微波遥感数据时空连续性好的优势,能够在测站稀少的西部高山地区反演出空间分辨率相对较高的雪深数据,这是地面观测无法做到的.初步检验结果显示,该方法较明显地提高了中国西部高原地区和东部雪盖南缘区的反演精度,并克服了原有融合方法在中国西部雪盖面积偏小的问题,有效避免了静态反演方法在高山地区严重高估而平原地区低估雪深的问题,实现了被动微波遥感和地面观测数据的有效融合,扩大了雪深监测的有效范围     

Application and evaluation of a differential inversion technique for remote temperature sensing

Summary A new theoretical approach is developed for remote temperature sensing based on application of Laplace transform techniques to the radiative transfer equation. This approach allows calculation of the atmospheric temperature profile from measurements of the upwelling radiance and its derivatives. Atmospheric temperatures are obtained by this technique without the use of anya priori temperature information. This technique is applied toboth synthetic data for detailed numerical study, and to measurements of the upwelling radiance taken with the Tiros Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS). Limitations arising from experimental errors, truncation errors, round-off, numerical errors, and instability of numerical Laplace transformation are discussed.With 9 Figures