Retrieval of Clouds and Precipitation from Satellite Observations

Precipitation is one of the most important geophysical parameters which is highly variable in space and time. Accurate estimation of precipitation and its spatial distributions at various spatial and temporal scales are valuable sources of information for flood forecasting, agriculture and water resource management, numerical weather prediction and numerous other meteorological and hydrological applications. Clouds also play an important role in the regulation of the earth¿s water cycle and deeply influence the global climate. Satellite sensors play an major role in the accurate measurement of global rainfall and cloud properties. Space borne rainfall measurements are mostly carried out using optical and microwave sensors. Microwave frequency based sensors have acquired recent attention of the meteorological community due its comparative advantage over optical sensors in the representation of cloud parameters including rain. This book is a PhD thesis in which different retrieval algorithms for rain and cloud properties are developed. A detailed analysis is also carried out to show the effect of precipitation variability in rainfall validation.