Weekly Report for the Week of October 27, 2008
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Projects/missions
- Ben Johnson (613.1/UMBC) an active participant in the CARE-C3VP field campaign, is in the data analysis / product development phase. The purpose of this field campaign is to provide validation for cloud and snowfall retrieval from CloudSAT (W-Band Radar), and snowfall detection/retrieval from ASMR/AMSU/MHS passive microwave observations. His role is to provide the passive microwave data and assist with forward modeling activities being pursued by Gail Jackson (613.1). Field experiments for snowfall measurement are critically important to validate retrievals from satellite based platforms. This experiment provided a critical combination of aircraft based particle size measurements, ground based observations, and coincident satellite observations during several snowfall events in the Barrie, Ontario region of Canada.
- Ben Johnson (613.1/UMBC) is a team member (Bill Olson/613.1 is the team lead) for the official combined radar / radiometer algorithm team for GPM. Our goal is to develop the official precipitation retrieval algorithm which will detect precipitation and infer geophysical parameters of interest, such as precipitation rate or ice/liquid water content.
He is also a Co-I on two funded proposals: PMM and CloudSat, both involving snowfall detection and retrieval techniques using passive and active microwave remote sensing.
External interactions (HQ, universities, other Gov't organizations, etc.)
- Ben Johnson (613.1/UMBC) is chair of the Research Working Group, and will continue to work in this capacity until the next IPWG meeting in 2010. The IPWG is one of three working groups constituted by the World Meteorological Organization / Coordinating Group on Meteorological Satellites (WMO/CGMS). It provides advice and support regarding precipitation for coordination among the international agencies responsible for the operational meteorological satellite constellation. There were 4 sub-working groups at IPWG: Research, New Applications/Technology, Validation, and Operations. Our recommendations, statements, and action items are disseminated to the larger community through WMO/CGMS, to provide guidance for administrators and management to make informed decisions regarding the future of precipitation remote sensing from space.
Noteworthy talks/presentations
- David Whiteman (613.1)presented a paper entitled “Raman Lidar and Radiosonde Measurements of Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratospheric Water Vapor” at the AGU Chapman Conference on Water Vapor in the Climate System held in Kona, Hawaii from October 20 – 24, 2008. Measurements of water vapor concentration in the UT/LS are difficult to make but can provide a key signature to the Earth's changing climate and aid calculations of the atmospheric radiation budget and predictions of the recovery of stratospheric ozone.
- Ben Johnson (613.1/UMBC) presented a paper at the 4th Annual IPWG Workshop in Beijing, China PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING OF COLD-CLOUD PRECIPITATION.
Passive microwave remote sensing of light/shallow precipitation is hindered by a lack of knowledge of the vertical structure of the atmosphere and by uncertainties in the properties of the surface. Radar, however, provides detailed information on the vertical structure of the atmosphere, making it extremely complimentary to co-incident passive microwave observations. The details of co-locating these two measurements require careful attention, since often different physical volumes of the atmosphere are being sampled by the various instruments and channels.
Education and Outreach
Eyal Amitai (Chapman University, 613.1) presented the following seminars:
1. "Listening to Rainfall 2000 Meters Underwater", Chapman University 2008-2009 Science Forum Series, Oct 24, Chapman University, Orange, California.
2. "Is it Raining? Evaluating Space and Underwater Remote Sensing of Rainfall", Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, U.C. Irvine, CA, Oct 20, Irvine, California.
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