Global Monthly Precipitation Estimates from Satellite-Observed Outgoing Longwave Radiation

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Abstract
The relationship between the flux of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) estimated from satellite observations and precipitation is investigated using monthly OLR data from the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites and the merged analysis of precipitation of Xie and Arkin for the 8-yr period from July 1987 to June 1995. The mean annual cycle of OLR in the Tropics is dominated by changes in cloudiness and exhibits a strong negative correlation with precipitation, while in the extratropics the strongest influence on the annual cycle of OLR is surface temperature and a positive correlation with precipitation is found. However, the anomaly of OLR exhibits a negative correlation with precipitation over most of the globe. The regression coefficient relating the anomaly of precipitation to that of OLR is spatially inhomogeneous and seasonally dependent but can be expressed with high accuracy as a globally uniform linear function of the local mean precipitation. Based on these results, a new technique is develope... Abstract The relationship between the flux of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) estimated from satellite observations and precipitation is investigated using monthly OLR data from the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites and the merged analysis of precipitation of Xie and Arkin for the 8-yr period from July 1987 to June 1995. The mean annual cycle of OLR in the Tropics is dominated by changes in cloudiness and exhibits a strong negative correlation with precipitation, while in the extratropics the strongest influence on the annual cycle of OLR is surface temperature and a positive correlation with precipitation is found. However, the anomaly of OLR exhibits a negative correlation with precipitation over most of the globe. The regression coefficient relating the anomaly of precipitation to that of OLR is spatially inhomogeneous and seasonally dependent but can be expressed with high accuracy as a globally uniform linear function of the local mean precipitation. Based on these results, a new technique is develope...

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