Three-dimensional Fusion of Spaceborne and Ground Radar Reflectivity Data Using a Neural Network–Based Approach

The spaceborne precipitation radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite(TRMM PR) can provide good measurement of the vertical structure of reflectivity, while ground radar(GR) has a relatively high horizontal resolution and greater sensitivity. Fusion of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data may maximize the advantages from both instruments.In this paper, TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data are fused using a neural network(NN)–based approach. The main steps included are: quality control of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data; spatiotemporal matchup; GR calibration bias correction;conversion of TRMM PR data from Ku to S band; fusion of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data with an NN method;interpolation of reflectivity data that are below PR's sensitivity; blind areas compensation with a distance weighting–based merging approach; combination of three types of data: data with the NN method, data below PR's sensitivity and data within compensated blind areas. During the NN fusion step, the TRMM PR data are taken as targets of the training NNs, and gridded GR data after horizontal downsampling at different heights are used as the input. The trained NNs are then used to obtain 3D high-resolution reflectivity from the original GR gridded data. After 3 D fusion of the TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data, a more complete and finer-scale 3D radar reflectivity dataset incorporating characteristics from both the TRMM PR and GR observations can be obtained. The fused reflectivity data are evaluated based on a convective precipitation event through comparison with the high resolution TRMM PR and GR data with an interpolation algorithm.