ABSTRACT
The most physical approaches are based on timedependent cloud radiation models that take full account of precipitation microphysics. These techniques simulate the physics of the cloud system in the PMW characterizing the vertical sources of radiation that contribute to the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) PMW brightness temperatures (TB) measured by the satellite radiometer. Vertically, angularly, and spectrally detailed radiative transfer models (RTMs) are applied to the highly resolved thermodynamic and microphysical output of the cloud model. Weighting functions, which are essentially vertically resolved radiative structure functions describing the process by which radiation originates and reaches the satellite radiometer, are found. The functions are then subdivided into individual contributions by the various hydrometeor species generated by the cloud model. An example of such model is given in Ref.[7], where a time-dependent cloud radiation model that establishes microphysical settings as a base of precipitation retrieval from PMW is proposed.
