Status of High Latitude Precipitation Estimates: The Role of GPM in Advancing our Current Understanding

Abstract:

This presentation reviews the current status of precipitation estimation from observation and reanalysis at high latitudes and discusses new insights gained by GPM. An intercomparison of high-latitude precipitation characteristics from observation-based and reanalysis products is performed. Precipitation products from GPM and the cloud profiling radar on the CloudSat satellite provide an independent assessment to other products which have already been widely used, these being the observationally-based GPCP, GPCC and CMAP and the reanalyses ERA-Interim, MERRA and NCEP-DOE. Seasonal and annual total precipitation in both hemispheres poleward of 55° latitude is considered in all products, and GPM and CloudSat products are used to assess frequency of precipitation occurrence by phase, defined as rain, snow or mixed phase. Estimates of snowfall over Antarctica and Greenland are compared from various products. A number of disagreements on regional or seasonal scales are identified which will be reported and discussed. These estimates from observations and reanalyses provide useful insights for diagnostic assessment of precipitation products in high latitudes, quantifying the current uncertainties among observations and reanalyses, and establishing a benchmark for assessment of climate models.