Abstract
Recent studies reported that precipitation and mountain waves induced low tropospheric level circulations may be decoupled or masked by greater spatial scale variability despite generally there is a connection between microphysical processes of precipitation and mountain driven air flows. In this paper we analyse two periods of a winter storm in the Eastern Pyrenees mountain range (NE Spain) with different mountain wave induced circulations and low-level turbulence as revealed by Micro Rain Radar (MRR), microwave radiometer and Parsivel disdrometer data during the Cerdanya-2017 field campaign. We find that during the event studied mountain wave wind circulations and low-level turbulence do not affect neither the snow crystal riming or aggregation along the vertical column nor the surface particle size distribution of the snow. This study illustrates that precipitation profiles and mountain induced circulations may be decoupled which can be very relevant for either ground-based or spaceborne remote sensing of precipitation.
Highlights
Mountains are a major factor in precipitation modification at local and global scales [1]
In this paper we study the relation between orographic precipitation and leeward vertically propagating motions forced by the Pyrenees mountain range at different temporal scales from minutes to hours using a vertically pointing Micro Rain Radar, a Parsivel laser disdrometer andRoemtohteeSernsi. n20s19t,r1u1, xmFOeRnPtEaERtiRoEnVIEsWet in the Cerdanya-2017 (C2017) field camp2aofig18n [10,11]
A Micro Rain Radar, a compact FM-CW (Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave) Doppler radar that operates at 24 GHz (K-band), was employed in this study [16]
Summary
Mountains are a major factor in precipitation modification at local and global scales [1]. During a winter observational campaign, Kingsmill et al [9] observed a vertically propagating mountain wave forced by the Park Range (northern Colorado) using an airborne vertically pointing W-band (95GHz) Doppler radar They studied 10-minutely spaced cross-sections across the barrier and did not found evidence of impact of the mountain-wave induced circulations in the precipitation patterns. Their results suggested that, due to the complex nature of the dynamical and microphysical processes involved in which many scales might be interacting, it would be necessary to employ different types of observations to further analyse this apparent disconnection between mountain-wave induced circulations and precipitation processes To address this issue, in this paper we study the relation between orographic precipitation and leeward vertically propagating motions forced by the Pyrenees mountain range at different temporal scales from minutes to hours using a vertically pointing Micro Rain Radar, a Parsivel laser disdrometer andRoemtohteeSernsi. Solid precipsietlaecttieodnanfdoarntahlyeserdeingiSoecntioonf3.s3t.uThdeycowncalussimonseoabstuainreeddarbeydrtahwen iCn 2Se0c1ti7onfi4.eld campaign automatic weather station n2.eDtwataoarnkd (MAeW thoSds), consisting in a selection of the AWS of the four different rain gauge networks managed by the Spanish Meteorological Service (AEMET), the Meteorological Service of
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