Precipitation type and profile classification for GPM-DPR

The dual precipitation radar (DPR) on board the GPM (Global precipitation measurement) core observatory satellite is expected to improve our knowledge of precipitation processes. DPR offers dual frequency observations (Ku and Ka band) along the vertical profiles which allow us to investigate the microphysics using the difference between two frequency observations (measured dual frequency ratio or DFRm). DFRm has been shown in the literature to be rich in information and can be used to perform precipitation classification and hydrometeor identification. In this paper, extensive analysis is focused on validating the classification criteria from DFRm using other auxiliary information such as velocity and linear depolarization ratio (LDR) based on airborne precipitation data. The cross comparisons show good agreement and the proposed classification method provides critical information needed for developing profile classification algorithms.