Development of precipitation radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2001-01, Vol.39 (1), p.102-116
Main Authors: Kozu, T., Kawanishi, T., Kuroiwa, H., Kojima, M., Oikawa, K., Kumagai, H., Okamoto, K., Okumura, M., Nakatsuka, H., Nishikawa, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACTIVE CONTROL
Calibration
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Extraterrestrial measurements
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
PHASED ARRAYS
PRECIPITATION (METEOROLOGY)
RADAR ARRAYS
Radar detection
RADAR MEASUREMENT
Radar measurements
Rain
SATELLITE-BORNE RADAR
Satellites
Space missions
Spaceborne radar
Spatial resolution
TRMM SATELLITE
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0196-2892
1558-0644
DOI:10.1109/36.898669