Creating a Consistent Microwave Radiometer Observation Dataset for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

Name: Delivering NOAA Satellite Data From the Final Frontier to the Last Frontier
Start: 2026-02-23T07:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-02-23T08:00:00-05:00

This event has passed. See the seminar recording here:

Dr. Rachael Kroodsma

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Monday September 9, 2019, 12 PM

ESSIC Conference Room 4102, 5825 University Research Ct, College Park, MD 20740

Abstract:

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission relies heavily on its constellation of spaceborne microwave radiometers to obtain precipitation measurements at a high temporal and spatial resolution. These radiometers are on various satellite platforms, designed and built by different countries and agencies. While every effort is made to accurately calibrate these instruments on the ground, there are many factors that impact the instrument’s calibration on orbit in the space environment that cannot be accounted for prelaunch. If not corrected, these calibration errors can have an adverse effect on the precipitation estimates. Furthermore, due to design differences among the constellation members, the radiometers need to be inter-calibrated to a calibration standard to achieve consistent precipitation estimates from the entire constellation. The GPM inter-calibration working group (XCAL) is responsible for analyzing the radiometer calibration and calculating the inter-calibration constants. This presentation will give an overview of XCAL’s recent activities, showing types of calibration errors that have been corrected and how the GPM radiometers are inter-calibrated. It will also include a brief discussion of how calibration differences may impact the precipitation if not corrected.

Bio-sketch:

Dr. Rachael Kroodsma is an assistant research scientist with ESSIC, working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with the Precipitation Processing System. She joined ESSIC in 2014 after receiving her PhD from the University of Michigan in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences. Her research interests include microwave radiometer calibration and remote sensing of the atmosphere. As a member of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) inter-calibration working group (XCAL), her primary work focuses on developing inter-calibration techniques and monitoring the calibration of the microwave radiometers in the GPM constellation. She is also instrument scientist for the airborne Conical Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSMIR), which will participate in the upcoming IMPACTS campaign.

Webinar info:

Event site: http://go.umd.edu/kroodsma

Event number: 734 228 604
Event password: essic
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