Retrieved vertical profiles of latent heat release using TRMM rainfall products for February 1988

This paper represents the first attempt to use Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall information to estimate the four-dimensional latent heating structure over the global Tropics for one month (February 1998). T he mean latent heating profiles over six oceanic regions [Tropical Ocean an d Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (CO ARE) Intensive Flux Array (IFA), central Pacific, South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), east Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean] and three con tinental regions (South America, central Africa, and Australia) are estimat ed and studied. The heating profiles obtained from the results of diagnosti c budget studies over a broad range of geographic locations are used to pro vide comparisons and indirect validation for the heating algorithm-estimate d heating profiles. Three different latent heating algorithms, the Goddard Space Flight Center convective-stratiform heating (CSH), the Goddard profil ing (GPROF) heating, and the hydrometeor heating (HH) algorithms are used a nd their results are intercompared. The horizontal distribution or patterns of latent heat release from the three different heating retrieval methods are very similar. They all can identify the areas of major convective activ ity [i.e., a well-defined Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the Paci fic, a distinct SPCZ] in the global Tropics. The magnitudes of their estima ted latent heating release are also in good agreement with each other and w ith those determined from diagnostic budget studies. However, the major dif ference among these three heating retrieval algorithms is the altitude of t he maximum heating level. The CSH algorithm-estimated heating profiles only show one maximum heating level, and the level varies among convective acti vity from various geographic locations. These features are in good agreemen t with diagnostic budget studies. A broader maximum of heating, often with two embedded peaks, is generally derived from applications of the GPROF hea ting and HH algorithms, and the response of the heating profiles to convect ive activity is less pronounced. Also, GPROF and HH generally yield heating profiles with a maximum at somewhat lower altitudes than CSH. The impact o f different TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and precipitation radar (PR) rainfa ll information on latent heating structures was also examined. The rainfall estimated from the PR is smaller than that estimated from the TMI in the P acific (TOGA COARE IFA, central Pacific, SPCZ, and east Pacific) and Indian Oceans, causing weaker latent heat release in the CSH algorithm-estimated heating. In addition, the larger stratiform amounts derived from the PR ove r South America and Australia consequently lead to higher maximum heating l evels. Sensitivity tests addressing the appropriate selection of latent hea ting profiles from the CSH lookup table were performed.