Abstract
Abstract. The first operational weather radar with dual polarization capabilities was recently installed in Austria. The use of polarimetric radar variables rises several expectations: an increased accuracy of the rain rate estimation compared to standard Z-R relationships, a reliable use of attenuation correction methods, and finally hydrometeor classification. In this study the polarimetric variables of precipitation events are investigated and the operational quality of the parameters is discussed. For the new weather radar also several polarimetric rain rate estimators, which are based on the horizontal polarization radar reflectivity, ZH, the differential reflectivity, ZDR, and the specific differential propagation phase shift, KDP, have been tested. The rain rate estimators are further combined with an attenuation correction scheme. A comparison between radar and rain gauge indicates that ZDR based rain rate algorithms show an improvement over the traditional Z-R estimate. KDP based estimates do not provide reliable results, mainly due to the fact, that the observed KDP parameters are quite noisy. Furthermore the observed rain rates are moderate, where KDP is less significant than in heavy rain.
Highlights
In contrast to conventional weather radars, where the reflectivity is measured in one polarization plane only, a dual polarization radar provides transmission in either horizontal, vertical, or both polarizations while receiving both the horizontal and vertical echoes simultaneously
The new Austrian C-band weather radar is among the first operational C-band radars equipped with dual-polarization capabilities
It is located in the western part of Austria at the border between the provinces Vorarlberg and
Summary
In contrast to conventional weather radars, where the reflectivity is measured in one polarization plane only, a dual polarization radar provides transmission in either horizontal, vertical, or both polarizations while receiving both the horizontal and vertical echoes simultaneously. For large rain drops with an oblate shape, the horizontal power return will be greater than for the vertical and the ZDR value will be positive. In areas with moderate rain (reflectivity ZH from 20 to dBZ), the measured ZDR values are quite high and reach values of 5 dB and more.
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