Cloud and precipitation features of Super Typhoon Neoguri revealed from dual oxygen absorption band sounding instruments on board FengYun-3C satellite

摘要

A new methodology is developed to detect the cloud structures at different vertical levels using the dual oxygen absorption bands located near 60GHz and 118GHz, respectively. Observations from Microwave Temperature Sounder (MWTS) and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MWHS) on board the recently launched Chinese FengYun-3C satellite are used to prove the concept. It is shown that a paired oxygen MWTS and MWHS sounding channel with the same peak weighting function altitude allows for detecting the vertically integrated cloud water path above that level. A cloud emission and scattering index (CESI) is defined using dual oxygen band measurements to indicate the amounts of cloud liquid and ice water paths. The CESI distributions from three paired channels reveal unique three-dimensional structures of clouds and precipitation within Super Typhoon Neoguri that occurred in July 2014.