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Tropical Rainfall:
Tropical rainfall is a key element of tropical weather both in hurricanes and generally. At sea, airborne radar and passive radiometers can measure the distribution of rainfall. In-situ measurements of precipitation microphysics are essential to understanding the remotely sensed observations. Acoustic sensing of wind and rainfall at sea is an extremely promising avenue of investigation. Collaboration with NASA through their Third and Fourth Convection and Mesoscale Experiments (CAMEX3 and CAMEX4) in 1998 and 2001 directs extensive resources at this important problem. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), which measures rainfall from orbit worldwide, is finding application to hurricane rainfall distribution. Another powerful tool is the National Weather Services' fully deployed network of operational Doppler radars, the WSR 88D, which is proving invaluable for measurement of precipitation in hurricanes. Numerical modeling also has a vital role in understanding and prediction of rainfall processes and amounts both for forecasting and for impacts.