Abstract
Raindrop size distribution (DSD) is of great significance for understanding the microphysical process of rainfall and the quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE). However, in the past, there was a lack of relevant research on Xinjiang in the arid region of northwest China. In this study, the rainy season data collected by the disdrometer in the Yining area of Xinjiang were used for more than two years, and the characteristics of DSDs for all samples, for two rain types (convective and stratiform), and for six different rain rates were studied. The results showed that nearly 70% of the total samples had a rainfall rate of less than 1 mm·h−1, the convective rain was neither continental nor maritime, and there was a clear boundary between convective rain and stratiform rain in terms of the scattergram of the standardized intercept parameter ( log 10 N w ) versus the mass-weighted average diameter ( D m ). When the raindrop diameter was less than 0.7 mm, DSDs of the two rainfalls basically coincided, while when the raindrop diameter was greater than 0.7 mm, DSDs of convective rainfall were located above the stratiform rain. As the rainfall rate increased, D m increased, while log 10 N w first increased and then decreased. In addition, we deduced the Z − R (radar reflectivity-rain rate) relationship and μ − Λ relationship (shape parameter-slope parameter of the gamma DSDs) suitable for the Yining area. These conclusions are conducive to strengthening the understanding of rainfall microphysical processes in arid regions and improving the ability of QPE in arid regions.
Highlights
Raindrop size distribution (DSD) is one of the important aspects of rainfall research, and it is very meaningful for understanding the microphysical process of rainfall and the quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) [1,2,3]
It is clear that the past researches mainly focused on monsoon regions and humid regions, and less research on DSDs in arid regions has restricted the understanding of rainfall microphysical processes in arid regions
We used the raindrop spectrum data of Yining of Xinjiang during the rainy season (April to October) from July 2018 to August 2020 to study the nature of DSD in Xinjiang in arid areas. e main findings are as follows: (1) For all rain samples, rainfall appears in the form of weaker intensity, and nearly 70% of the rainfall rate is less than 1 mm h− 1, and the DSD parameter (Dm) and bulk variables (R, W and Z) have a positive skewness, indicating a low frequency of high values and a high frequency of low values in Yining. e larger standard deviations of these parameters indicate that the rainfall variability is stronger
Summary
Raindrop size distribution (DSD) is one of the important aspects of rainfall research, and it is very meaningful for understanding the microphysical process of rainfall and the quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) [1,2,3]. From the tropics to mid-latitudes, many researchers have used observational data to obtain the characteristics of DSDs of different continental areas. Researchers have conducted extensive studies on Darwin in Australia [16], the Indian coast [17], South Korea [18], Taiwan [19], Singapore [20], Oklahoma [21], and south and east China [22,23,24], and the research conclusions are of great significance for understanding the characteristics of local DSDs and improving the level of QPEs. Some researchers have used the observation data of ships on the ocean to obtain the characteristics of DSDs on the ocean [25,26,27]. It becomes difficult to improve the level of QPEs in arid areas
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