Abstract
Abstract. Radar dual-wavelength ratio (DWR) measurements from the Stony Brook Radar Observatory Ka-band scanning polarimetric radar (KASPR, 35 GHz), a W-band profiling radar (94 GHz), and a next-generation K-band (24 GHz) micro rain radar (MRRPro) were exploited for ice particle identification using triple-frequency approaches. The results indicated that two of the radar frequencies (K and Ka band) are not sufficiently separated; thus, the triple-frequency radar approaches had limited success. On the other hand, a joint analysis of DWR, mean Doppler velocity (MDV), and polarimetric radar variables indicated potential in identifying ice particle types and distinguishing among different ice growth processes and even in revealing additional microphysical details. We investigated all DWR pairs in conjunction with MDV from the KASPR profiling measurements and differential reflectivity (ZDR) and specific differential phase (KDP) from the KASPR quasi-vertical profiles. The DWR-versus-MDV diagrams coupled with the polarimetric observables exhibited distinct separations of particle populations attributed to different rime degrees and particle growth processes. In fallstreaks, the 35–94 GHz DWR pair increased with the magnitude of MDV corresponding to the scattering calculations for aggregates with lower degrees of riming. The DWR values further increased at lower altitudes while ZDR slightly decreased, indicating further aggregation. Particle populations with higher rime degrees had a similar increase in DWR but a 1–1.5 m s−1 larger magnitude of MDV and rapid decreases in KDP and ZDR. The analysis also depicted the early stage of riming where ZDR increased with the MDV magnitude collocated with small increases in DWR. This approach will improve quantitative estimations of snow amount and microphysical quantities such as rime mass fraction. The study suggests that triple-frequency measurements are not always necessary for in-depth ice microphysical studies and that dual-frequency polarimetric and Doppler measurements can successfully be used to gain insights into ice hydrometeor microphysics.
Highlights
Millimeter-wavelength radars have been widely used for the study of liquid and ice precipitation clouds, utilizing the radars’ high sensitivity to smaller particles due to Rayleigh scattering and excellent spatiotemporal resolution (Kollias et al, 2007)
The Micro Rain Radar Pro (MRRPro) features a high-performance processing unit which significantly improves the options in the operating parameters (Table 1)
The dual-wavelength ratio (DWR) from Region A and Region B tend to be distributed toward the model low-rime-degree lines, while those from Region C and Region D were distributed toward the higherrime-degree regions
Summary
Millimeter-wavelength (i.e., operating at 35 and 94 GHz) radars have been widely used for the study of liquid and ice precipitation clouds, utilizing the radars’ high sensitivity to smaller particles due to Rayleigh scattering and excellent spatiotemporal resolution (Kollias et al, 2007). DWRs have been used in multi-wavelength radar measurements for microphysical retrievals such as estimations of liquid water content (e.g., Hogan et al, 2005; Huang et al, 2009; Tridon et al, 2013; Zhu et al, 2019), ice water content (IWC), snowfall rate (e.g., Matrosov, 1998), and identification of particle types (e.g., Kneifel et al, 2015; Leinonen and Moisseev, 2015; Moisseev et al, 2015; Sinclair et al, 2016; Matrosov et al, 2019)
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