[26-Feb-2014] Yang, J., Nystuen, J.A., Asher, W.E., Jessup, A.T., and Riser, S.C.
Presented at the 2014 Ocean Sciences MeetingKnowledge of rainfall frequency, intensity, and duration over the ocean is critical in boh understanding the global hydrological cycle and calibrating and validating ocean surface salinity measured by instruments such as Aquarius and SMOS. Five STS profiling drifters equipped with PAL passive acoustic rain gauges were deployed in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean in 2011. The 2-year long time series of acoustic spectra from these floats now provide enough data from which rainfall statistics in this region can be estimated. Here, initial results from the application of an improved data classification scheme to the STS/PAL data are presented. Rainfall statistics from the PALs are compared with rainfall climatologies derived from either satellite measurements or TOGA-TAO array data in the same region. [Research supported by NASA under the Aquarius Mission and Sea Surface Salinity science team.]