The Fengyun rainfall mission FY3G: the scientific products and validation progress

Precipitation is one of the most important parameters in the earth system. China began to develop satellites dedicated to precipitation measurements in the second generation of the FENGYUN polar-orbiting meteorological satellite program (FY-3). The first of total two rainfall missions scheduled, FY-3G, was successfully launched on 16 April 2023 and became the world’s third satellite to measure precipitation with space-borne radar after the TRMM in 1997 and GPM in 2014. In this presentation, we will illustrate the scientific products and validation program.

The instruments on the FY-3G satellite can produce important geophysical parameters, including precipitation, atmospheric profiles, various clouds products and so on. As the core remote sensing instrument on the Fengyun rainfall mission, PMR(Precipitation Measurement Radar) can provide the 3D structure of precipitation, invert to obtain accurate information such as precipitation intensity and precipitation type, and improve the space-based precipitation measurement capability. Products such as bright band detection, precipitation type, precipitation phase state, precipitation rate, and latent heating will be processed to generate.19 kinds of scientific products have been publicly released and can be obtained through the dedicated website, FENGYUN Satellite Data Center (http://satellite.nsmc.org.cn/portalsite/default.aspx)..

The FY-3G Precipitation Measurement Radar (PMR) are comparable to Global Precipitation Measurement Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (GPM DPR). Ground-based weather radar (GR) data are used to perform a comparative analysis of the reflectivity consistency between PMR and DPR satellite-ground radar observations. The results indicate that PMR and DPR are all systematic higher than GR. PMR and DPR are 1.15 dB and 1.56 dB higher than CINRAD reflectivity respectively, while 1.73 dB and 2.85 dB higher with NEXRAD with uncertainty round 2 dB. Stratiform samples exhibits the smallest biases, with reflectivity differences further reduced below the bright band (BB). PMR precipitation classification result aligns well with DPR. Through ground-based comparisons with CINRAD and NEXRAD, the FY-3G PMR exhibits relatively small differences. This makes it well-suited for joint global precipitation observations alongside the DPR.

As a pioneer of China's rainfall missions, FY-3G will greatly improves our ability to provide global precipitation measurements, understand Earth's water and energy cycle, and forecast extreme events for the benefit of society.