Go to the TRMM web page http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
What are the frequencies and polarizations that the TRMM TMI instrument measures?
http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/instrumentdescription.txt
Which of the following geophysical variables can be retrieved over the ocean from TRMM (note use a combination of what is on the web page and what you learned in class):
Go to the Remote Sensing Systems page http://www.ssmi.com/.
Go to data validation.
When compared with buoy data, how accurate are the SSM/I wind speeds?
What latitudes would you expect the SSMI winds to be most accurate?
When compared with buoy data, how accurate are the SSM/I sea surface temperatures?
Go to the Research Hurricane page http://www.ssmi.com/hurricanes.html.
What are the relative advantages of determining sea surface temperature from infrared versus microwave?
How do clouds and precipitation influence the sea surface temperature retrievals from infrared versus microwave?
Go the TMI Anomaly map page http://www.ssmi.com/tmiAnomaly.html.
During the period December 1997 through June 1998, when do you see El Nino conditions (warm water in the eastern Pacific) and when do you see La Nino conditions (cool water in the eastern Pacific)?
Here is some info about Hurricane Bonnie, that hit the North Carolina coast in Aug 1998.
Examine the infrared image of hurricane Bonnie at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/images/hurr-bonnie-19980826-noaa12-colorir.gif.
How do you identify the location of the hurricane in the infrared? What physical feature in the atmosphere or ocean is used to identify the location of the hurricane in the infrared?
Now look at hurricane Bonnie in the microwave http://www.ssmi.com/hurricanes.html (TMI sea surface temperature)
http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/quicklook/980826_qlhi.gif (TMI precipitation)
Note what you can see of hurricane bonnie from precipitation radar http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/images_dir/bonnie.html.
How might you indirectly infer precipitation from the infrared?