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Envisat RA-2 rain flagging. Graham Quartly & Meric Srokosz. Heritage. Rain flagging for TOPEX (Ku,C). Envisat RA-2 (Ku,S). Sigma0 monitoring. Periods when S-band sigma0 values are ~23 dB too high. Comparison to MWR. All points. Points with BT 36 >200K.
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Envisat RA-2 rain flagging Graham Quartly & Meric Srokosz
Heritage Rain flagging for TOPEX (Ku,C)
Sigma0 monitoring Periods when S-band sigma0 values are ~23 dB too high
Comparison to MWR All points Points with BT36 >200K Correspondence between attenuation events and high BT values
<< Rain Flagging >> Detection of rain Estimation of rain rate (storm studies, climatologies etc.) Finding anomalous / contaminated data (Automatic removal of bogus ssh, Hs values)
Automatic detection 1. One-point anomaly filter 2. Look at sh, sHs 3. Dual-frequency rain flag
Flagging on sh & sHs Threshold: mn + 3 s.d. = 0.12 + 0.007 Hs2 Threshold: mn + 3 s.d. = 0.60 + 0.04 Hs2
Dual-frequency rain flag Rain-contaminated if ‘significantly’ below mean relationship Here 0.5 dB and s0S ≤ 15 dB — Could use smaller threshold. — Could use 2.5 x Std. Dev. — Could extend over all s0 Also require MWR confirmation?
Effect on Hs Attenuation near leading edge leads to higher Hs and shift in range …
Conclusions Differential attenuation can be used for ‘rain flagging’. Threshold of 0.5 dB picks out most Hs and ssh spikes. Apart from when S-band goes AWOL, there is good s0 stability (track-to-track variation ~ 0.1 dB). Will make a contribution to ‘rain studies’ (Use of many DF altimeters give better climatology; synergistic use of RA-2 with MERIS and AATSR.)