Implementation of an orographic/nonorographic rainfall classification scheme in the GSMaP algorithm for microwave radiometers

We incorporate an orographic/nonorographic rainfall classification scheme into the Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation algorithm for passive microwave radiometers. It improves rainfall estimation over the entire Asian region. However, low verification scores over the United States and Mexico result because vertical profiles of rainfall over the Sierra Madre Mountains are high even for orographic rainfall conditions. In this region, lightning activity is vigorous, with large amounts of solid particles such as graupels, occurring with strong convections. Hence, the orographic/nonorographic rainfall classification scheme is switched off for regions where strong lightning activity occurs in the rainfall type database. The revised zonal mean rainfall amounts obtained from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager are now in better agreement with those from the version 7 of the TRMM Precipitation Radar over the United States and Mexico, as well as Asia. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.