How often does it rain over the global oceans? The perspective from CloudSat

The frequency of precipitation occurrence over the global oceans from 2006 - 2007 as calculated from CloudSat radar data is compared to ship-based (ICOADS) and island-based (GSOD) data. It is shown that the spatial pattern of the precipitation frequency from CloudSat is consistent with previous climatological studies. The comparison to ship-based data reveal that CloudSat results are consistent with ship observations well into the high latitudes and appear to capture the seasonal cycle of precipitation well. A comparison to island data also shows good qualitative agreement, although the spatial scale mismatch complicates the efficacy of such comparisons. Nevertheless, CloudSat is shown to be a viable platform for obtaining quality satellite-based precipitation frequency measurements. Citation: Ellis, T. D., T. L'Ecuyer, J. M. Haynes, and G. L. Stephens (2009), How often does it rain over the global oceans? The perspective from CloudSat, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L03815, doi: 10.1029/2008GL036728.