Microwave measurement of rain and sea surface temperature by the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI)

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is important for studies of the global hydrological cycle and for testing the realism of climate models and their ability to Simulate and predict climate accurately; the effect of El Nino, on climate could be addressed as well. This paper investigates the microwave rain measurement using satellite data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The physical bases of rainfall estimation algorithms, vertical Structure of rain and its physical processes are explained. The algorithms for processing TMI radiance and brightness temperature data are presented. Various rain maps and sea Surface temperature (SST) maps are produced using TMI microwave data. The performance, calibration, analysis of results and sources of errors in the averaged monthly surface rain rate estimation are discussed.