Remote Sensing of Clouds and Precipitation

This book presents up-to-date applications of remote sensing techniques for clouds and precipitation for the benefit of students, educators, and

scientists. It covers ground-based systems such as weather radars and spaceborne instruments on satellites. Observations and modeling of

precipitation are at the core of weather forecasting, and long-term observations of the cloud system are vital to improving atmospheric models and climate projections.

The first section of the book focuses on the use of ground-based weather radars to observe and measure precipitation and to detect and forecast

storms, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. It also treats the observation of clouds using millimeter ground-based radar. The second part of the book

concentrates on spaceborne remote sensing of clouds and precipitation. It treats cloud and water vapor measurements from the Moderate

Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). It includes cases from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, using satellite radars to observe precipitation systems. Then, the focus is on cloud observation with millimeter radars from the ClaudSat instruments to monitor global cloud coverage - including nonprecipitating clouds. Notable examples are offered from the Arctic region as well as non-precipitating clouds in the mid-latitude zones. The final section of this volume provide a perspective into the future of remote sensing and discusses advances in cloud modeling.