Rainfall Algorithms Using Oceanic Satellite Observations from MWHS-2

This paper describes three algorithms for retrieving precipitation over oceans from brightness temperatures (TBs) of the Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-2 (MHWS-2) onboard Fengyun-3C (FY-3C). For algorithm development, scattering- induced TB depressions (ΔTBs) of MWHS-2 at channels between 89 and 190 GHz were collocated to rain rates derived from measurements of the Global Precipitation Measurement’s Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) for the year 2017. ΔTBs were calculated by subtracting simulated cloud-free TBs from bias-corrected observed TBs for each channel. These ΔTBs were then related to rain rates from DPR using (1) multilinear regression (MLR);the other two algorithms, (2) range searches (RS) and (3) nearest neighbor searches (NNS), are based on k-dimensional trees. While all three algorithms produce instantaneous rain rates, the RS algorithm also provides the probability of precipitation and can be understood in a Bayesian framework. Different combinations of MWHS-2 channels were evaluated using MLR and results suggest that adding 118 GHz improves retrieval performance. The optimal combination of channels excludes high-peaking channels but includes 118 GHz channels peaking in the mid and high troposphere. MWHS-2 observations from another year were used for validation purposes. The annual mean 2.5° × 2.5° gridded rain rates from the three algorithms are consistent with those from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and DPR. Their correlation coefficients with GPCP are 0.96 and their biases are less than 5%. The correlation coefficients with DPR are slightly lower and the maximum bias is ~8%, partly due to the lower sampling density of DPR compared to that of MWHS-2.

Thermal performance of a single U-tube ground heat exchanger:A parametric study

In this research,the thermal performance of a single U-tube vertical ground heat exchanger is evaluated numerically as a function of the most influential flow parameters,namely,the soil porosity,volumetric heat capacity,and thermal conductivity of the backfill material,inlet volume flow rate,and inlet fluid temperature.The results are discussed in terms of the variations of the heat exchange rate,the effective thermal resistance,and the effectiveness of the ground heat exchanger.They show that the inlet volume flow rate,inlet fluid temperature,and backfill material thermal conductivity have significant effects on the thermal performance of the ground heat exchanger,such that by decreasing the inlet volume flow rate and increasing the backfill material thermal conductivity and inlet fluid temperature,the outlet fluid temperature decreases considerably.On the contrary,the soil porosity and backfill material volumetric heat capacity have negligible effects on the studied ground heat exchanger’s thermal performance.The lowest inlet fluid temperature reaches a the maximum effective thermal resistance of borehole and soil,and consequently the minimum heat transfer rate and effectiveness.Also,multilinear regression analyses are performed to determine the most feasible models able to predict the thermal properties of the single U-tube ground heat exchanger.