RAINFALL PROFILE RETRIEVAL THROUGH SPACEBORNE RAIN RADARS UTILIZING ASEA-SURFACE NRCS MODEL

Vertical rainfall profile retrieval over the sea surface, based on ref lectivity data collected by spaceborne rain radars, can be improved th rough existing algorithms that exploit estimates of the power backscat tered from that surface. However, prediction errors of the sea surface normalised radar cross-section (NRCS) may significantly affect the pe rformance of such algorithms. This is the first point highlighted in t he paper, referring to the K-u band. Consequently, the authors propose the utilisation of an electromagnetic model able to predict with acce ptable accuracy the sea surface NRCS under the joint effect of wind- a nd rainfall-induced corrugation. The core of the paper is the descript ion of an improved algorithm for rainfall rate vertical profile retrie val over the sea surface in the case of a single frequency, nadir-look ing radars and the discussion of some simulation results.