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

The new version of these data is in GPM-like format (consistent with the GPM Dual-frequency Radar data format), and can be found under the name GPM_2APR.

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. Further information about 2A23 can be found in Awaka et al. (1998).

Pre-Boost (before 7 August 2001): Temporal Resolution: 91.5 min/orbit ~ 16 orbits/day; Swath Width: 215 km; Horizontal Resolution: 4.3 km

Post-Boost (after 24 August 2001): Temporal Resolution: 92.5 min/orbit ~ 16 orbits/day; Swath Width: 247 km; Horizontal Resolution: 5.0 km