2001/01/01 by T. Kozu, T. Kawanishi, Toneo Kawanishi +13 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Precipitation Measurement and Analysis #Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing
paper · doi:10.1109/36.898669
openalex publication_date 2001/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The precipitation radar (PR) onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite is the first spaceborne radar to measure precipitation from space. The PR, operating at 13.8 GHz, is a 128-element active phased array that allows a fast and sophisticated cross-track scanning over a swath width of 215 km with a cross-range spatial resolution of about 4.3 km. The PR has a minimum detectable rain rate of 0.5 mm/h with range resolution of 250 m. In order to achieve a reliable and accurate rain echo data for three years mission life, functions for internal and external calibrations are implemented. Through a series of PR flight-model tests on the ground and an initial checkout just after the TRMM launch, it is confirmed that the PR functions properly and meets the performance requirements to quantitatively measure three-dimensional (3D) precipitation distribution from space.