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Cloud and precipitation features of Super Typhoon Neoguri revealed from dual oxygen absorption band sounding instruments on board FengYun‐3C satellite
Author(s) -
Han Yang,
Zou Xiaolei,
Weng Fuzhong
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl062753
Subject(s) - depth sounding , satellite , remote sensing , microwave , environmental science , water vapor , meteorology , cloud top , precipitation , physics , geology , oceanography , quantum mechanics , astronomy
Abstract A new methodology is developed to detect the cloud structures at different vertical levels using the dual oxygen absorption bands located near 60 GHz and 118 GHz, respectively. Observations from Microwave Temperature Sounder (MWTS) and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MWHS) on board the recently launched Chinese FengYun‐3C satellite are used to prove the concept. It is shown that a paired oxygen MWTS and MWHS sounding channel with the same peak weighting function altitude allows for detecting the vertically integrated cloud water path above that level. A cloud emission and scattering index (CESI) is defined using dual oxygen band measurements to indicate the amounts of cloud liquid and ice water paths. The CESI distributions from three paired channels reveal unique three‐dimensional structures of clouds and precipitation within Super Typhoon Neoguri that occurred in July 2014.