Study on Microwave Remote Sensing of Atmosphere, Cloud and Rain

In this paper, recent research of microwave remote sensing of atmosphere, cloud and rain in China is presented. It includes the following aspects:(1) Progress in the development of multifrequency radiometer and its characteristics and parameters;(2) Application of microwave remote sensing in prediction of atmospheric boundary layer. The atmospheric temperature profiles are derived with 5 mm (54.5 GHz) radiometer angle-scanning observations. Due to the fact that microwave radiometer could monitor the atmospheric temperature profile continuously and make the initialization of numerical model any time, it is helpful for improving the accuracy in prediction of the evolution of atmospheric boundary layer;(3) Theory and application of microwave radiometers in monitoring atmospheric temperature, humidity and water content in cloud. The field experiment of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) at Shionomisaki and Amami Oshima of Japan for studies of cloud and weather has been described;(4) Satellite remote sensing of atmosphere and cloud. The TIROS-N TOVS satellite data are used to obtain at-mospheric temperature profile. The results are compared with those of radiosonde, with rms deviation smaller than that of the current operational TOVS processing;(5) Microwave remote sensing and communication. The atmospheric attenuations are derived with microwave remote sensing methods such as solar radiation method etc., in order to obtain the local value instantaneously. The characteristics of Beijings rainfall have been analysed and the probability of microwave attenuation of rain is predicted;(6) For improvement of the accuracy of rainfall measurement, a radiometer-radar system (= 3.2 cm) has been developed. The variation of rainfull distribution and area-rainfall may be obtained by its measurements, which may be helpful for hydrological prediction.The prospect of microwave remote sensing in meteorology is also discussed.