REMOTE SENSING OF PRECIPITATION AT HIGHER LATITUDES USING COMBINED ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MICROWAVE OBSERVATIONS

The development of a forward model that produces simulated upwelling multi-frequency microwave brightness temperatures and radar reflectivities in native observation space will be described. This forward model- combined with concurrent Advanced Scanning Microwave Radiometer (AMSR-E) and ground-based radar observations from the Baltic Sea region- will be used within an optimal estimation framework to study higher latitude precipitation events. The sensitivity of various precipitation model parameters will be investigated in order to highlight what parameters strongly influence microwave signatures of observed radar and satellite data in precipitating higher latitude weather systems. The combination of ground-based active and passive microwave observations in a consistent physical framework will hopefully provide more information about the vertical structure of hydrometeors in precipitating weather systems than just considering exclusively the passive microwave data. 1