Wireless communications systems of all types must deliver reliable connections to the end users to be accepted by the public. The reliability of these systems is composed of two aspects. The first aspect is the reliability of the actual hardware and software composing the device and is completely under the control of the designers of the equipment. The second aspect of reliability or availability is the wireless propagation link connecting the users. This link is very difficult to model exactly and is composed of a fixed propagation loss plus random elements of propagation loss.This thesis focuses on the propagation links associated with satellite communications systems (Satcom). The fixed portion of the link loss in this case is the "spreading loss" or free space loss which occurs due to the large distance between the user and the satellite. The random portion of the link loss in these systems is due to many things such as rain, absorption, shadowing, multipath and cross polarization effects. However the major element associated with fades in Satcom systems is rain and the fades associated with rain. Rain becomes an even more dominate term in the situation as higher frequencies are used to obtain the increases in bandwidths required to accommodate the increases in use. Rain fades on the satellite links are modeled as random processes whose parameters are given in RECOMMENDATION ITU-R P.837-5 of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Over the years this recommendation has been revised and the current revision is 837-5 as indicated above. However, the data used to develop these models has always come from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts based upon data measured at approximately 100 stations around the world. Since 1998 satellite sensory data is available for the tropics which directly measures rain data in this area. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is a join satellite project involving the USA and Japan. As a result of the availability of TRMM data it is possible to improve the statistical rain rate models for the tropical regions of the world. Recently a number of researchers (T.V, Omotosho, C.O. Oluwafemi, C Prabhakara et all) have begun to use TRMM data to improve the rain rate and rain fade estimates. The ITU has also begun to study using TRMM data in their recommendations. In this thesis the TRMM data is used to construct a rain rate and rain fade models for the Indian sub-continent as well as other parts of the tropics. This model is compared to the predictions based upon the ITU 837-5 models and substantial differences are found in the heavy rain fall areas. India is currently building a satellite (GSAT-4) to measure rain fades at 20/30 GHz and it is hoped that these results can be used to compare with the measured GSAT-4 data when it is available.

The presence of rain over oceans interferes with the measurement of sea surface wind speed and direction from the Sea Winds scatterometer and as a result wind measurements contain biases in rain regions. In past research at the Central Florida Remote Sensing Lab, it has been observed that rain has multi-fractal behavior. In this report we present an algorithm to detect the presence of rain so that rain regions are flagged. The forward and aft views of the horizontal polarization σ0 are used for the extraction of textural information with the help of multi-fractals. A single negated multi-fractal exponent is computed to discriminate between wind and rain. Pixels with exponent value above a threshold are classified as rain pixels and those that do not meet the threshold are further examined with the help of correlation of the multi-fractal exponent within a predefined neighborhood of individual pixels. It was observed that the rain has less correlation within a neighborhood compared to wind. This property is utilized for reactivation of the pixels that fall below a certain threshold of correlation. An advantage of the algorithm is that it requires no training, that is, once a threshold is set, it does not need any further adjustments. Validation results are presented through comparison with the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Microwave Imager (TMI) 2A12 rain retrieval product for one whole day. The results show that the algorithm is efficient in suppressing non-rain (wind) pixels. Also algorithm deficiencies are discussed, for high wind speed regions. Comparisons with other proposed approaches will also be presented.

The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a tropical phenomenon that exists on the time scale of 30-90 days, commonly initiates over the Indian Ocean and slowly propagates into the western Pacific as a series of convective events, which have time scales on the order of hours or days. These events and the overall MJO convective envelope may interact with convectively coupled waves such as Kelvin waves that propagate more rapidly eastward with time scales of 3-5 days. Radar and sounding data collected during the DYNAMO/AMIE/CINDY2011 field campaign from October 2011 to February 2012 in the central Indian Ocean are used to study the interaction between Kelvin waves and the MJO in terms of atmospheric and cloud properties. The focus is on characterizing the precipitation characteristics, convective cloud spectrum, and atmospheric profiles of Kelvin waves during the active and suppressed phases of the MJO to gain insight on MJO initiation. Characteristics of waves identified using different satellite thresholds and filtering methods are compared. Composites of the radar and sounding observations are calculated for a total of ten Kelvin waves and three MJO events that occurred during the field campaign. Analyzed radar products include convective-stratiform classification of rain rate, rain area, and echo-top heights, as well as cloud boundaries. Sounding data includes profiles of wind speed and direction and relative humidity. Kelvin waves that occur during the suppressed MJO are convectively weaker than Kelvin waves during the active MJO, but display previously documented structure of low-level convergence and a moist atmosphere prior to the wave passage. During the active MJO, Kelvin waves have stronger convective and stratiform rain, and the entire event is longer, suggesting a slower moving wave. The Kelvin wave vertical structure is somewhat overwhelmed by the convective envelope associated with the MJO. When the MJO is developing, the Kelvin wave displays a moisture-rich environment after the passage, providing deep tropospheric moisture that is postulated to be important for the onset of the MJO. The convective cloud population prior to MJO initiation shows increased moisture and a population of low- to mid-level clouds. The moisture precedes shallow convection, which develops into the deep convection of the MJO, supporting the discharge-recharge theory of MJO initiation. Additionally, enhanced moisture after the passage of the pre-MJO Kelvin wave could also support the frictional Kelvin-Rossby wave-CISK theory of MJO initiation. With a better understanding of the interaction between the initiation of the MJO and Kelvin waves, the relationships between the environment and the onset of the convection of the MJO can be improved.

L’estimation quantitative des précipitations à l’échelle locale est une nécessité sociétale, à cause de l’augmentation des dégâts provoqués par des inondations exacerbées par l’urbanisation croissante. Or, des estimations locales sont particulièrement difficiles à réaliser à cause de la forte variabilité des précipitations. De plus, ce genre d’estimation est sollicité par de petits organismes tels qu’une commune, pour lesquels il n’est pas envisageable d’utiliser des instruments à la pointe de la recherche technologique à cause de leur coût prohibitif. Ainsi, il est nécessaire de développer des méthodes d’estimation quantitative des précipitations applicables à un dispositif expérimental de prix abordable. Dans ce but, un dispositif expérimental innovant est utilisé dans cette thèse. Il est constitué d’instruments de mesure directe, au sol, tels que des pluviomètres et des disdromètres, et d’un prototype de radar à balayage horizontal basé sur un radar nautique commercial, associé à un MRR (Micro Rain Radar) à visée verticale qui fournissent une estimation en altitude de la pluie, respectivement sur une surface donnée et le long d’un profil vertical. Le radar à balayage horizontal est un radar en bande X, c’est-à-dire qu’il fonctionne à une longueur d’onde lui procurant une très haute résolution radiale, mais qui est très atténuée par les précipitations. Le MRR permet d’obtenir une description précise de la microphysique des précipitations et sert de relais entre les mesures au sol et les mesures en altitude du radar en bande X. Ces deux radars étant novateurs, une grande partie de cette thèse consiste à valider leurs mesures : étalonnage, filtrage d’échos aberrants, correction de l’atténuation, etc. Une fois les mesures rendues exploitables, cette thèse se focalise sur l’étude de la variabilité des précipitations afin de proposer et développer différentes méthodes de classification, selon leur type ou leur variations locales, et de vérifier leur potentiel pour l’amélioration de l’estimation des précipitations. Les résultats montrent que cet objectif ne peut être atteint que si la qualité des mesures des radars est encore améliorée : moins d’échos parasites pour le radar en bande X et prise en compte du vent vertical pour le MRR. / Due to the increase of damage associated with floods enhanced by expanding urbanisation, the quantitative estimation of precipitation on a local scale is a societal need. However, such estimations are difficult because of the high variability of precipitation. Moreover, these estimations are requested by small organisations such as local authorities which cannot afford top level research instruments. Hence, new methods of estimation applicable to a cheap experimental set are needed. Toward this goal, an innovative experimental set is used in this work. It consists of ground instruments such as raingauges and disdrometers, and two radars, a prototype of a scanning radar based on a modified marine radar and a vertically pointing MRR (Micro Rain Radar), which give estimation of rain aloft, over an area and along a profile, respectively. The scanning radar works at X-band, meaning that it uses a longwave very attenuated by precipitation, but which provides a high range resolution. The MRR yields a detailed description of microphysics of precipitation and fills the gap between ground measurements and X-band radar measurements aloft. As both these radars are innovative, a large part of this PhD thesis was spent on the measurements validation : radar calibration, abnormal echoes filtering, attenuation consideration, etc. Using these corrected measurements, this PhD focus then on the study of the variability of precipitation, and aims to propose and develop several classification methods based on precipitation type or local variability, and to check their potential for the improvement of precipitation estimation. Results show that this goal can be reached only if the radar measurements quality is further improved : less interference echoes for the X-band radar, and consideration of vertical wind for the MRR.