Abstract
OceanRAIN—the Ocean Rainfall And Ice-phase precipitation measurement Network—provides in-situ along-track shipboard data of precipitation, evaporation and the resulting freshwater flux at 1-min resolution over the global oceans from June 2010 to April 2017. More than 6.83 million minutes with 75 parameters from 8 ships cover all routinely measured atmospheric and oceanographic state variables along with those required to derive the turbulent heat fluxes. The precipitation parameter is based on measurements of the optical disdrometer ODM470 specifically designed for all-weather shipboard operations. The rain, snow and mixed-phase precipitation occurrence, intensity and accumulation are derived from particle size distributions. Additionally, microphysical parameters and radar-related parameters are provided. Addressing the need for high-quality in-situ precipitation data over the global oceans, OceanRAIN-1.0 is the first comprehensive along-track in-situ water cycle surface reference dataset for satellite product validation and retrieval calibration of the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) era, to improve the representation of precipitation and air-sea interactions in re-analyses and models, and to improve understanding of water cycle processes over the global oceans.
Highlights
Background & SummaryGlobal ocean water cycle monitoring is essential for a successful understanding of the climate system[1,2,3,4]
The TRMM14 (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission), CloudSat[15,16] and Global Precipitation Measurement[17] (GPM) satellite missions, aided by their spaceborne precipitation radars TRMM-PR, CloudSat-CPR and GPM-DPR boosted the emergence of precipitation products[18,19,20,21,22,23,24]
Most of the existing disdrometers are not designed for all-weather shipboard operation and do not meet the requirements for strong turbulence, frequently varying wind directions and sea state. This observational gap in high-quality precipitation measurements over the ocean[51,53,54] remained critical for meeting the requirements of validating an ECV30. This motivated us to develop and implement a monitoring network for in-situ precipitation, evaporation and freshwater flux to support the requirements of the international science teams of IPWG, GPM-GV (Ground Validation), SeaFlux and OceanObs[11,13,17,55] and the Global Climate Observing System[4]
Summary
Global ocean water cycle monitoring is essential for a successful understanding of the climate system[1,2,3,4]. This observational gap in high-quality precipitation measurements over the ocean[51,53,54] remained critical for meeting the requirements of validating an ECV30 This motivated us to develop and implement a monitoring network for in-situ precipitation, evaporation and freshwater flux to support the requirements of the international science teams of IPWG, GPM-GV (Ground Validation), SeaFlux and OceanObs[11,13,17,55] and the Global Climate Observing System[4]. All satellite-based precipitation retrievals and products as well as re-analyses and models involving air-sea interaction would benefit from such new in-situ reference dataset[8] To bridge this important information gap, we present the surface reference dataset OceanRAIN-1.0 (Ocean Rainfall And Ice-phase precipitation measurement Network) (Data Citation 1, Data Citation 2 and Data Citation 3). OceanRAIN-1.0 data is publicly available through the website http://www.oceanrain.org/ and the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC)
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