The Status of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) after Two Years in Orbit

Kummerow, Christian D.; Simpson, Joanne; Thiele, O. W.; Barnes, William; Chang, A. T. C.; Stocker, Erich Franz; Adler, Robert F.; Hou, Arthur Y.; Kakar, Ramesh K.; Wentz, F. J.; Ashcroft, Peter; Kozu, Toshiaki; Hong, Yu; Okamoto, Ken‐ichi; Iguchi, Toshio; Kuroiwa, Hiroshi; Im, E.; Haddad, Ziad S.; Huffman, George J.; Ferrier, Brad S.; Olson, William S.; Zipser, Edward J.; Smith, Eric A.; Wilheit, T. T.; North, Gerald R.; Krishnamurti, T. N.; Nakamura, Kenji

doi:10.1175/1520-0450(2001)040<1965:tsottr>2.0.co;2

Cited by 1,087 publications

(725 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The primary sources of data in this study are TRMM precipitation radar (PR) and microwave imager (TMI) observations and retrievals (Kummerow et al, 1998(Kummerow et al, , 2000. The University of Utah TRMM precipitation feature (PF) database (Nesbitt et al, 2000;Liu et al, 2008) was employed to assess convective characteristics in each region from May to October (period of AEW activity) during 1998-2010.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional comparison of West African convective characteristics: a TRMM‐based climatology

Guy

Rutledge

2011

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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A 13-year (1998-2010) climatology of mesoscale convective characteristics associated with the West African monsoon are investigated using precipitation radar and passive microwave data from the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. Seven regions defined as continental northeast and northwest, southeast and southwest, coastal, and maritime north and south are compared to analyse zonal and meridional differences. Data are categorized according to identified African easterly wave (AEW) phase and when no wave is present. While some enhancements are observed in association with AEW regimes, regional differences were generally more apparent than wave vs. no-wave differences. Convective intensity metrics confirm that land-based systems exhibit stronger characteristics, such as higher storm top and maximum 30 dBZ heights and significant 85 GHz brightness temperature depressions. Continental systems also contain a lower fraction of points identified as stratiform. Results suggest that precipitation processes also varied depending upon region and AEW regime, with warm-rain processes more apparent over the ocean and the southwest continental region and ice-based microphysics more dominant over land, including mixed-phase processes. AEW regimes did show variability in stratiform fraction and ice and liquid water content, suggesting modulation of mesoscale characteristics possibly through feedback with the synoptic environment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional comparison of West African convective characteristics: a TRMM‐based climatology

Guy

Rutledge

2011

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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“…For each basin and its trunk stream we calculated 19 variables describing geometry, relief, and climate. Our analysis is based on the new medium-resolution (25 x 25 km) rainfall dataset 3B42 TRMM averaged over 8 years from 1998 to 2006 (Kummerow et al, 2000;TRMM, 2007) and topographic SRTMV3-90-m data (USGS, 2007). The variables are defined and summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The topographic imprint of a transient climate episode: the western Andean flank between 15·5° and 41·5°S

Rehak

Bookhagen

Strecker

et al. 2010

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Mountain-range topography is determined by the complex interplay between tectonics and climate. However, often it is not clear to what extent climate forces topographic evolution and how past climatic episodes are reflected in relief. The Andes are a tectonically active mountain belt encompassing various climatic zones with pronounced differences in rainfall and glacier extent under similar plate-boundary conditions. In the Central to South-Western Andes climatic zones range from hyperarid desert with mean annual rainfall of 5 mm/a (22.5°S) to year-round humidity with 2500 mm/a (40°S). The Andes thus provide a unique setting for investigating the relationship between climate and topography. We present the analysis of 120 catchments along the western Andean watersheds between 15.5° and 41.5°S, which is based on SRTMV3-90m data and the new medium-resolution rainfall (TRMM) dataset. For each basin, we extracted geometry, relief, and climate parameters to test whether Andean topography shows a climatic imprint and to analyze how climate influences relief. Our data document that elevation and relief decrease with increasing rainfall and descending snowline elevation. Furthermore, we show that local relief reaches high values of 750 m in a zone between 28° to 35°S. During Pleistocene glacial stages this region was affected by the northward shifting southern hemisphere Westerlies, which provided moisture for valley-glacier formation and extended glacial coverage as well as glacial erosion. In contrast, the southern regions between 35° to 40°S receive higher rainfall and have a lower local relief of 200 m, probably related to an increased drainage density. We distinguish two different, climatically-controlled mechanisms shaping topography: (1) fluvial erosion by prolonged channel-hillslope coupling, which smoothes relief, and (2) erosion by valley glaciers that generates relief. Finally, our results suggests that the catchment-scale relief of the Andes between 28° to 35°S is characterized by a pronounced transient component reflecting past climatic conditions.

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“…TRMM included a number of precipitation-related instruments such as the visible and infrared sensor (VIRS), the SSM/I-like TRMM microwave imager (TMI) and the PR (Kummerow et al, 2000). It is the first platform from which space-borne radar observations were made with a PR.…”

Section: Data and Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical variations of rain intensity in different rainy periods in and around Bangladesh derived from TRMM observations

Islam

Uyeda

2007

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSTRACT:In this paper, differences in rain intensity in and around Bangladesh during various rainy periods are described. The data were obtained from tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) -2A25, -3B42 and -3B43. The version 5 (V5) 3B42 daily products overestimated rainfall in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods but underestimated it in the monsoon period compared with rain-gauge data. The version 6 (V6) daily products reduced the over-and underestimation of rainfall. On the basis of the analysed rainfall characteristics in different rainy periods, the 2A25 data was analysed to reveal the vertical variations of rain intensity. Pre-monsoon rainfall was characterized by convective rain with strong intensity upto high altitudes and high echo tops that usually occurred over land and not over the Bay of Bengal. In contrast, during monsoon, intense rain occurred over the Bay of Bengal and land; however, the existence of strong and high echo tops was less significant than that during the pre-monsoon period. The radar echo tops and the height of strong rain intensity measured in the post-monsoon period were lower than those obtained in the monsoon period.

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The Status of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) after Two Years in Orbit

Cited by 1,087 publications

References 29 publications

Regional comparison of West African convective characteristics: a TRMM‐based climatology

Regional comparison of West African convective characteristics: a TRMM‐based climatology

The topographic imprint of a transient climate episode: the western Andean flank between 15·5° and 41·5°S

Vertical variations of rain intensity in different rainy periods in and around Bangladesh derived from TRMM observations

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