Emerging techniques for precipitation assessment and consistency studies
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Date
2021
Authors
Behrangi, Ali
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World Climate Research Programme
Abstract
Besides traditional sensors used to estimate precipitation amount and distribution, several other Earth-observing sensors can provide valuable insights about precipitation quantity. Here, we show how observation of mass change from GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites can help quantify snowfall accumulation over Antarctica and frozen surfaces in the Northern Hemisphere, two regions that precipitation estimation from typical precipitation measuring sensors are the most uncertain. Similarly, we discuss how snow depth observation from the Operation IceBridge (OIB) can help assess snow accumulation over sea ice, where almost no other reliable in situ data exists. These independent observations can also give us insights into the consistency of variables used in the water budget equation. Furthermore, we discuss how complementary observations from radars can help refine our estimate of precipitation over the ocean and serve as a reference to assess other precipitation products.
Description
DOI: 10.13021/gewex.precip.3.3
Keywords
Snow, GRACE, SWE, Radar, Consistency, Sea ice, Antarctica, Ocean
Citation
Behrangi, A., 2021: Emerging techniques for precipitation assessment and consistency studies, in The Joint IPWG/GEWEX Precipitation Assessment (ed. R. Roca), WCRP Report 2/2021, World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), Geneva, Switzerland.