Four dimensional heat and moisture budgets derived from radiosonde and SSM/I measurements

This study addresses the retrieval of tropical open-ocean latent heating using Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) satellite measurements. The analysis is carried out for the 4-month TOGA-COARE experiment period in the Western Pacific (November 1992 through February 1993). This paper first discusses various modifications to the ocean version of the Florida State University (FSU) satellite precipitation retrieval algorithm. The validation of the retrieved rainrates conducted in the third precipitation algorithm intercomparison project (AIP-3) study area demonstrates that the modified algorithm is able to estimate reliable rainrates in terms of magnitude, distribution, and time variation.;A latent heating calibration scheme was introduced for the AIP-3 study area in order to develop a rainrate category-based heating calibration scheme, which can be used to improve the initially retrieved heating profiles. The large scale diagnostic studies of apparent heat source (Q;The Q;The latent heating retrieval and calibration schemes were then applied to the 60...