Characterization of atmospheric precipitation effects on spaceborne synthetic aperture radar response at X, Ku, Ka band

Marzano, Frank S.; Mori, Saverio; Pierdicca, Nazzareno; Pulvirenti, Luca; Weinman, J. A.

doi:10.5721/itjrs20094136

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In previous studies, we have developed theoretical and numerical models of the spaceborne X-SAR response to precipitation systems, characterized by liquid and frozen hydrometeor spatial distributions (Weinman and Marzano, 2008;Marzano and Weinman, 2008;Weinman et al, 2009;Marzano et al, 2009). There are still open issues related to further explore the potential of X-band high-resolution detection and retrieval of rainfall fields by exploiting X-SAR received signal co-polar amplitude and phase, and to evaluate the effects of spatial resolution degradation and inhomogeneous beam filling by precipitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar over land

Marzano¹,

Mori²,

Chini³

et al. 2010

Preprint

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X-band Synthetic Aperture Radars (X-SARs), able to image the Earth's surface at metric resolution, may provide a unique opportunity to measure rainfall over land with spatial resolution of about few hundred meters, due to the atmospheric moving-target degradation effects. This capability has become very appealing due to the recent launch of several X-SAR satellites, even though several remote sensing issues are still open. This work is devoted to: (i) explore the potential of X-band high-resolution detection and retrieval of rainfall fields from space using X-SAR signal backscattering amplitude and interferometric phase; (ii) evaluate the effects of spatial resolution degradation by precipitation and inhomogeneous beam filling when comparing to other satellite-based sensors. Our X-SAR analysis of precipitation effects has been carried out using both a TerraSAR-X (TSX) case study of Hurricane "Gustav" in 2008 over Mississippi (USA) and a COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) X-SAR case study of orographic rainfall over Central Italy in 2009. For the TSX case study the near-surface rain rate has been retrieved from the normalized radar cross section by means of a modified regression empirical algorithm (MREA). A relatively simple method to account for the geometric effect of X-SAR observation on estimated rainfall rate and first-order volumetric effects has been developed and applied. The TSX-retrieved rain fields have been compared to those estimated from the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) in Mobile (AL, USA). The rainfall detection capability of X-SAR has been tested on the CSK case study using the repeat-pass coherence response and qualitatively comparing its signature with ground-based Mt. Midia C-band radar in central Italy. A numerical simulator to represent the effect of the spatial resolution and the antenna pattern of TRMM satellite Precipitation Radar (PR) and Microwave Imager (TMI), using high-resolution TSX-retrieved rain images, has been also set up in order to evaluate the rainfall beam filling phenomenon. As expected, the spatial average can modify the statistics of the high-resolution precipitation fields, strongly reducing its dynamics in a way non-linearly dependent on the rainrate local average value

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar over land

Marzano¹,

Mori²,

Chini³

et al. 2010

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In previous studies, we have developed theoretical and numerical models of the spaceborne X-SAR response to precipitation systems, characterized by liquid and frozen hydrometeor spatial distributions Marzano and Weinman, 2008;Weinman et al, 2009;Marzano et al, 2009). There are still open issues related to further explore the potential of X-band high-resolution detection and retrieval of rainfall fields by exploiting X-SAR received signal co-polar amplitude and phase, and to evaluate the effects of spatial resolution degradation and inhomogeneous beam filling by precipitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne synthetic aperture radar over land

Marzano

Mori

Chini

et al. 2011

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. X-band Synthetic Aperture Radars (X-SARs), able to image the Earth's surface at metric resolution, may provide a unique opportunity to measure rainfall over land with spatial resolution of about few hundred meters, due to the atmospheric moving-target degradation effects. This capability has become very appealing due to the recent launch of several X-SAR satellites, even though several remote sensing issues are still open. This work is devoted to: (i) explore the potential of X-band high-resolution detection and retrieval of rainfall fields from space using X-SAR signal backscattering amplitude and interferometric phase; (ii) evaluate the effects of spatial resolution degradation by precipitation and inhomogeneous beam filling when comparing to other satellite-based sensors. Our X-SAR analysis of precipitation effects has been carried out using both a TerraSAR-X (TSX) case study of Hurricane "Gustav" in 2008 over Mississippi (USA) and a COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) X-SAR case study of orographic rainfall over Central Italy in 2009. For the TSX case study the near-surface rain rate has been retrieved from the normalized radar cross section by means of a modified regression empirical algorithm (MREA). A relatively simple method to account for the geometric effect of X-SAR observation on estimated rainfall rate and firstorder volumetric effects has been developed and applied. The TSX-retrieved rain fields have been compared to those estimated from the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) in Mobile (AL, USA). The rainfall detection capability of X-SAR has been tested on the CSK case study using the Correspondence to: F. S. Marzano (marzano@die.uniroma1.it) repeat-pass coherence response and qualitatively comparing its signature with ground-based Mt. Midia C-band radar in central Italy. A numerical simulator to represent the effect of the spatial resolution and the antenna pattern of TRMM satellite Precipitation Radar (PR) and Microwave Imager (TMI), using high-resolution TSX-retrieved rain images, has been also set up in order to evaluate the rainfall beam filling phenomenon. As expected, the spatial average can modify the statistics of the high-resolution precipitation fields, strongly reducing its dynamics in a way non-linearly dependent on the rain rate local average value.

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Dealing with flood mapping using SAR data in the presence of wind or heavy precipitation

2013

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The latest generation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems allows providing emergency managers with near real time flood maps characterized by a very high spatial resolution. Near real time flood detection algorithms generally search for regions of low backscatter, thus assuming that floodwater appears dark in a SAR image. It is well known that this assumption is not always valid. For instance, vegetation emerging from floodwater may produce high radar returns because of the double bounce effect involving water surface and vertical stems. However, even mapping bare or scarcely vegetated inundated terrains, or crops totally submerged by water can turn out to be a difficult task. In the presence of wind that roughens the water surface, floodwater can appear bright in SAR images. Moreover, if X-band radars as TerraSAR-X or COSMO-SkyMed are used to map inundation, not only missed detection, but also false alarms may occur because of artifacts caused by heavy precipitating clouds that attenuate the radar signal. This paper proposes possible strategies to cope with flood mapping using SAR data in the presence of wind or heavy precipitation.

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Characterization of atmospheric precipitation effects on spaceborne synthetic aperture radar response at X, Ku, Ka band

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar over land

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar over land

Potential of high-resolution detection and retrieval of precipitation fields from X-band spaceborne synthetic aperture radar over land

Dealing with flood mapping using SAR data in the presence of wind or heavy precipitation

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