Inversion of Spaceborne X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar Measurements for Precipitation Remote Sensing Over Land

Several spaceborne X-band synthetic aperture radar (X-SAR) systems were launched in 2007, and more will be launched in the current decade. These sensors may significantly augment the sensors that comprise the global precipitation mission (GPM) constellation. X-SAR rainfall measurements may be beneficial particularly over land where rainfall is difficult to measure by means of satellite microwave radiometers. Inversion techniques to quantitatively derive precipitation fields over land at high spatial resolution are developed and illustrated in this paper. These inversion algorithms are the model-oriented statistical (MOS) methodology and the Volterra integral equation (VIE) approach. Simplified rain-cloud models are used to train and test the inversion algorithms by evaluating the expected error budget. Two case studies, using data obtained from measurements of SIR-C/X-SAR in 1994 over Bangladesh and the Amazon, are introduced, and retrieved precipitation maps are discussed. Even though no validation of the precipitation estimates was possible, the obtained results are encouraging, showing physically consistent retrieved structures and patterns.