TRMM Precipitation Radar Rain Characteristics L2 1.5 hours V7 (TRMM_2A23) at GES DISC

The TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first of its kind in space, is an electronically scanning single-frequency radar, operating at 13.8 GHz that measures the 3-D rainfall distribution over both land and ocean, and defines the layer depth of the precipitation. PR 2A23 produces a rain/no-rain flag.

Its main objectives are (1) to detect bright band (BB), (2) to classify rain type, and (3) to detect warm rain. 2A23 uses two different methods for classifying rain type: (1) vertical profile method (V-method) and (2) horizontal pattern method (H-method). Both methods classify rain into three categories: stratiform, convective, and other. To make the results user-friendly, 2A23 outputs a unified rain type.