Microwave Satellite Data

• There is another suite of satellite data products that you may not be aware of.
• These products include:
  • SSTs
  • sea-surface winds
  • TPW
  • cloud liquid water
  • rainfall rates
  • soil moisture
  • and more......
• These can be derived in the presence of clouds...., how can that be?
• A: radiation at microwave frequencies (5-200 GHz, 0.05-15 cm) is largely not absorbed or scattered by clouds
• Cloud and rain drops, however, emit radiation at some microwave wavelengths that, when measured, can be used to infer cloud liquid water and precipitation rates.

1. Microwave Remote Sensing: Overview

and

2. Microwave Remote Sensing: Clouds, Precipitation, and Water Vapor