H217-03
Advancing the latest GPCP product (V3.1) in High Latitudes Using Recent Observations from Space and Comparison with Other Products

Wednesday, 16 December 2020: 20:38
Virtual
Ali Behrangi1, George John Huffman2, Yang Song1, Robert F Adler3, David T Bolvin4 and Eric Nelkin4, (1)University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Tucson, AZ, United States, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States, (4)Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) products are a widely-used community-based analysis of global precipitation under the auspices of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project. The GPCP monthly is a combined satellite-gauge product in which the CDR standards of consistency and homogeneity is underlined. Satellite data are used over land and ocean and obtained from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI), Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS), geostationary imagers and polar orbiting infrared sounders. GPCP uses the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) full product over land, as its in situ component, but prior to combination with satellite data GPCC estimates are adjusted for gauge undercatch. Over the last few years advanced sensors aboard Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), CloudSat, and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission have enabled more accurate estimation of rain and snowfall rates and we have started to utilize them by developing the Merged CloudSat, TRMM, and GPM (MCTG) climatology to update GPCP in higher latitudes. This is especially the case over extra tropics and high latitudes, using CloudSat and GPM light rain and snowfall capabilities. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) is used to assess snowfall accumulations over frozen land and arctic basins, adding valuable insights into what we already measured from sparse rain gauges together with correction factors needed to correct for gauge undercatch. Observations of snow on sea ice from NASA’s Operation IceBridge (OIB) flights are utilized as an additional tool for snowfall assessment over sea ice. The latest GPCP product (GPCP V3.1), with major focus over ocean, offers higher spatial resolution (0.5ox0.5o) than earlier versions over both land and ocean, extending from 1983 to the (delayed) present. We will discuss important changes in zonal mean precipition around 40o S/N and around 60o S compared to the earlier versions, consistent with MCTG calibration. We will also discuss our plans for future assessment of GPCP and potential modifications in the next version.
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