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TRMM: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

  • Conference paper
Radiation and Water in the Climate System

Part of the book series: Nato ASI Series ((ASII,volume 45))

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Abstract

Precipitation is one of the most important parts of both the global water and energy cycles, yet it is one of the most poorly observed climate parameters. Globally, the net latent heating associated with precipitation accounts for about 80% of the total diabatic heating required to balance radiative cooling to space. The spatial pattern and temporal variability of this heating serves as the primary driver for the tropical general circulation. The local balance between precipitation and evaporation over ocean helps determine the thermohaline component of the ocean circulation and may influence both tropical El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and high latitude deep water formation. Over land, the precipitation-evaporation balance controls the tendency for drought to occur and directly influences the surface temperature by altering the relative contributions of sensible and latent heat fluxes to the surface energy budget. Within clouds, precipitation formation is thought to be the major sink of cloud water and thus affects the reflectance of bright tropical cumulus anvils. Drizzle formation in low-level marine stratocumulus may help detach those clouds from surface moisture fluxes as the drizzle evaporates in the subcloud layer, thereby contributing to the stratocumulus-trade cumulus transition. Land- ocean differences in precipitation efficiency, associated with different concentrations of nucleating aerosols, may cause cloud feedback in a changing climate to differ for marine and continental clouds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY, 10025, USA

    Anthony D. Del Genio

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  1. Anthony D. Del Genio
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Atmosphärenphysik, GKSS-Forschungszentrum, D-21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Ehrhard Raschke

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Del Genio, A.D. (1996). TRMM: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. In: Raschke, E. (eds) Radiation and Water in the Climate System. Nato ASI Series, vol 45. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03289-3_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03289-3_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08261-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03289-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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