Rainfall rate profiling with attenuating-frequency radar using nonlinear LMS technique under a constraint on path-integrated rainfall rate*

This paper deals with a new algorithm applicable to rainfall rate profiling with a rain-attenuating-frequency radar for vertical incidence from an air or space platform. The proposed algorithm is independent from external radar calibration which is especially difficult to perform in airborne or space-borne applications. In addition to backscattering data from raindrops, path-integrated rainfall rate is used to estimate a rainfall rate profile. The path-integrated rainfall rate may be estimated from surface echo attenuation or from brightness temperature measured with an auxiliary microwave radiometer. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by a computer simulation experiment assuming backscattering and attenuation models of the radar wave due to rain. Then, airborne radar data are analysed with the algorithm to demonstrate its validity.