Abstract
Abstract. The dataset collected during the Radar Snow Experiment (RadSnowExp) presents the first-ever airborne triple-frequency radar observations combined with almost perfectly co-located and coincident airborne microphysical measurements from a single platform, the National Research Council Canada (NRC) Convair-580 aircraft. The potential of this dataset is illustrated using data collected from one flight during an Arctic storm, which covers a wide range of snow habits from pristine ice crystals and low-density aggregates to heavily rimed particles with maximum size exceeding 10 mm. Three different flight segments with well-matched in situ and radar measurements were analyzed, giving a total of 49 min of triple-frequency observations. The in situ particle imagery data for this study include high-resolution imagery from the Cloud Particle Imager (CPI) probe, which allows accurate identification of particle types, including rimed crystals and large aggregates, within the dual-frequency ratio (DFR) plane. The airborne triple-frequency radar data are grouped based on the dominant particle compositions and microphysical processes (level of aggregation and riming). The results from this study are consistent with the main findings of previous modeling studies, with specific regions of the DFR plane associated with unique scattering properties of different ice habits, especially in clouds where the radar signal is dominated by large aggregates. Moreover, the analysis shows close relationships between the triple-frequency signatures and cloud microphysical properties (particle characteristic size, bulk density, and level of riming).
Highlights
There are currently two spaceborne atmospheric radars in operation: the Global Precipitation Measurement Dualfrequency Precipitation Radar (GPM dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR)) and the CloudSat cloud-profiling radar (CPR) whose missions have been foundational for characterizing the evolving nature of clouds and precipitation on Earth over the last decade
The Global Precipitation Measurement Dualfrequency Precipitation Radar (GPM DPR) detection performance is slightly improved compared to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR), with a minimum detectable signal (MDS) of 14.5 dBZ at Ku and 16.3 dBZ at Ka in the matched scan (MS) mode (Hamada and Takayabu, 2016)
The NRC Airborne W- and X-band (NAWX) antennas are housed inside an unpressurized blister radome mounted on the right side of the aircraft fuselage (Fig. 2a), and the Ka-band Precipitation Radar (KPR) radar was installed on the left wing-tip pylon
Summary
There are currently two spaceborne atmospheric radars in operation: the Global Precipitation Measurement Dualfrequency Precipitation Radar (GPM DPR) and the CloudSat cloud-profiling radar (CPR) whose missions have been foundational for characterizing the evolving nature of clouds and precipitation on Earth over the last decade. Coincident measurements from the CloudSat CPR and the GPM DPR of the same precipitating system have illustrated that centimeter and millimeter radars are effective in mapping different parts of the precipitating system and can be used synergistically in order to better retrieve cloud microphysical properties (Battaglia et al, 2020a). The Parameterizing Ice Clouds using Airborne Observations and Triple-frequency Doppler Radar Data (PICASSO) campaign (Westbrook et al, 2018) has been making ground-based triple-frequency measurements along with coincident in situ aircraft measurements of the microphysics. Very few airborne experiments (e.g., the 2003 Wakasa Bay Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Precipitation Validation Campaign, Lobl et al, 2007, and the 2015 Olympic Mountains Experiment – OLYMPEX, Houze et al, 2017) have collected triple-frequency radar observations but only with limited nearly coincident airborne in situ cloud microphysical data.
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