Analysis of Short Space–Time-Scale Variability of Oceanic Rain Using TOPEX/Jason

Abstract

Abstract Information on the spatial and temporal variability of rain rate is important not only for meteorology and hydrology but also for the design of remote sensing and in situ measuring or of millimeter wave communication systems. The Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Jason Tandem Mission (TM) collocated rain dataset is used in this study to determine the small space-scale (5 km) and time-scale (70 s) rain variability. TOPEX and Jason dual-frequency (Ku and C bands) radar altimeter data have been extensively used during the past decade to detect and study oceanic precipitations. During the TM, designed to intercalibrate and validate the two altimeters, the two satellites were put on the same orbit with a 70-s time separation. With combined use of altimeter and passive microwave radiometers (also available on board altimeter missions), rain intensity, rain attenuation, rain layer height, rain event length, and surface winds can also be estimated and provide valuable coincident geophysical contextual information. The size of the TM collocated rain database (140 000 samples) is large enough to allow a meaningful statistical analysis of the time–space variability of rain over the World Ocean. The analysis of the different terms contributing to the variability of rain attenuation, from which rain rate is inferred, shows that the geophysical and/or instrumental noise is small enough to allow a meaningful estimation of the variability of the measured rain rate. The analysis of the time and space variabilities and their relation reveals two well-defined regimes. The first one, corresponding to convective rain cells (i.e., rain rate greater than 3–4 mm h−1, length smaller than 50 km, and freezing level greater than 3.5 km), is characterized by high temporal and spatial variabilities (greater than 2–3 mm h−1) that increase with increasing rain intensity and decreasing cell length. Horizontal variability is significantly larger than the temporal one and surface wind has a very limited impact. The second regime corresponds to stratiform and/or weak rain cells. The temporal and spatial variabilities are relatively low (on the order of 1–2 mm h−1) and vary little with rain intensity and cell length. The temporal variability increases with surface wind and largely exceeds the spatial variability (ratio of 2 or more); the ratio strongly increases with increasing wind speed.