Terrain-Driven Variability of Raindrop Size Distribution and Rainfall Kinetic Energy in Shaanxi, China and Implications for Microphysics Estimation

Cuddalore (11.46° N / 79.46° E), a tropical coastal station in Tamilnadu of southern peninsular India receives precipitation from pre-monsoon (March – May), southwest monsoon (June – September) and northeast monsoon (October – December). While the precipitation during pre-monsoon (PM) and southwest monsoon (SWM) is mostly convective, that received during northeast monsoon (NEM) is mostly stratiform albeit a juxtaposition of both convective and stratiform is also feasible. The seasonal variability of raindrop size distribution (DSD) has been studied using the data obtained from electro-mechanical disdrometer (Joss-Waldvogel type) at Cuddalore. The modal drop size is less than 2.0 mm diameter in stratiform precipitation whereas drops of higher diameter (more than 3 mm) is quite probable in convective precipitation events. The mean concentration of rain drops of size more than 3 mm is highest during pre-monsoon followed by southwest monsoon in rain rates exceeding 10 mm h-1 due to rapid collision and coalescence taking place in afternoon mixing and convective currents. The concentration of smaller size drops (of size less than 2 mm dia) especially in rain rates exceeding 8 mm h-1 is more during NEM than the SWM because the condensed particles could not grow effectively into larger drops due to the prevalence of either weak instability or nocturnal stability conditions during NEM. Convective type precipitation has higher rain rates than the stratiform type. Inverse relationship between drop concentration and rain rate is seen during convective situations, while the relationship is linear during stratiform conditions. Lognormal distribution fits the DSD of northeast monsoon (mostly stratiform precipitation) extremely well. However, this fitting has some deviation in the rain rate 10-50 mm h-1 during pre-monsoon and southwest monsoon season (mostly convective precipitation) based on the limited data sample obtained during 2003.

Analysis of the relationship between the kinetic energy and intensity of rainfall in Daejeon, Korea

Seasonal variation of raindrop size distribution over a coastal station Thumba: A quantitative analysis

The seasonal variations of raindrop size distribution (DSD) and rainfall are investigated using three-year (2016–2018) observations from a two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) located at a suburban station (40.13° N, 116.62° E, ~30 m AMSL) in Beijing, China. The annual distribution of rainfall presents a unimodal distribution with a peak in summer with total rainfall of 966.6 mm, followed by fall. Rain rate (R), mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm), and raindrop concentration (Nt) are stratified into six regimes to study their seasonal variation and relative rainfall contribution to the total seasonal rainfall. Heavy drizzle/light rain (R2: 0.2~2.5 mm h−1) has the maximum occurrence frequency throughout the year, while the total rainfall in summer is primarily from heavy rain (R4: 10~50 mm h−1). The rainfall for all seasons is contributed primarily from small raindrops (Dm2: 1.0~2.0 mm). The distribution of occurrence frequency of Nt and the relative rainfall contribution exhibit similar behavior during four seasons with Nt of 10~1000 m−3 registering the maximum occurrence and rainfall contributions. Rainfall in Beijing is dominated by stratiform rain (SR) throughout the year. There is no convective rainfall (CR) in winter, i.e., it occurs most often during summer. DSD of SR has minor seasonal differences, but varies significantly in CR. The mean values of log10Nw (Nw: mm−1m−3, the generalized intercept parameter) and Dm of CR indicate that the CR during spring and fall in Beijing is neither continental nor maritime, at the same time, the CR in summer is close to the maritime-like cluster. The radar reflectivity (Z) and rain rate (R) relationship (Z = aRb) showed seasonal differences, but were close to the standard NEXRAD Z-R relationship in summer. The shape of raindrops observed from 2DVD was more spherical than the shape obtained from previous experiments, and the effect of different axis ratio relations on polarimetric radar measurements was investigated through T-matrix-based scattering simulations.

Rainfall kinetic energy is an important parameter to estimate erosion potential in connection to soil erosion or in the recent years to the erosion of the leading edges of wind turbine blades. Little is known about the seasonal drop size distribution and fall velocity dependence of rainfall kinetic energy as well as its relationship with wind speed. Therefore, 6 years of Thies Laser Precipitation Monitor disdrometer and wind measurements from Voulund, a field site in western Denmark, were analyzed. It was found that the rainfall kinetic energy was highest in summer due to higher drop concentrations and in autumn due to more time with rain. The rainfall kinetic energy peaked for drop diameters between 0.875 and 2.25 mm independent of the season. Rainfall kinetic energy decreased significantly with increasing wind speed, if considering the vertical fall speed of the drops for the calculation of the rainfall kinetic energy. However, it should be noted that the measurement uncertainty increases with increasing wind speed. As disdrometer observations are rarer than rain rate observations, the performance of empirical equations describing the relationship between rainfall kinetic energy rate and rain rate was investigated. It was found that an equation trained with an alternative method fulfilled the statistical requirements for linear regression and had a similar error compared to equations in the literature. Based on the analyses, it can be concluded that the erosion potential due to rainfall kinetic energy is highest between June and November at low wind speeds and high rain rates.

Dependency of rain integral parameters on specific rain drop sizes and its seasonal behaviour

Intraseasonal variation of raindrop size distribution (DSD) in response to Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) is studied using a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD), a boundary layer radar (BLR) and the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar, operated at Koto Tabang, west Sumatra, as well as GOES‐9 infra‐red brightness temperature. As a parameter of DSD, ΔZMP, which is defined as the difference between a measured radar reflectivity in dB and that from the Marshall‐Palmer (MP) radar reflectivity (Z) ‐ rain rate (R) relationship, Z = 200 R1.6, is used. It is found that in non‐active phase of MJO, 2DVD‐derived ΔZMPs are generally positive, indicating that DSDs are broad, while they decrease toward negative values as the phase of MJO shifts to active ones. Rain‐top height derived from the BLR indicates that the convective processes are more intense in the non‐active MJO phase than in the active phase, which would cause the difference in DSDs.

The controls on the variability of raindrop size distributions in extreme rainfall and the associated radar reflectivity–rain rate relationships are studied using a scaling-law formalism for the description of raindrop size distributions and their properties. This scaling-law formalism enables a separation of the effects of changes in the scale of the raindrop size distribution from those in its shape. Parameters controlling the scale and shape of the scaled raindrop size distribution may be related to the microphysical processes generating extreme rainfall. A global scaling analysis of raindrop size distributions corresponding to rain rates exceeding 100 mm h−1, collected during the 1950s with the Illinois State Water Survey raindrop camera in Miami, Florida, reveals that extreme rain rates tend to be associated with conditions in which the variability of the raindrop size distribution is strongly number controlled (i.e., characteristic drop sizes are roughly constant). This means that changes i...

The intrastorm variability of raindrop size distributions as a source of uncertainty in single-parameter and dual-parameter radar rainfall estimates is studied using time series analyses of disdrometer observations. Two rain-rate (R) estimators are considered: the traditional single-parameter estimator using only the radar reflectivity factor (Z) and a dual-polarization estimator using a combination of radar reflectivity at horizontal polarization (ZH) and differential reflectivity (ZDR). A case study for a squall-line system passing over the Goodwin Creek experimental watershed in northern Mississippi is presented. Microphysically, the leading convective line is characterized by large raindrop concentrations (>500 drops per cubic meter), large mean raindrop sizes (>1 mm), and wide raindrop size distributions (standard deviations >0.5 mm), as compared to the transition region and the trailing stratiform rain. The transition and stratiform phases have similar raindrop concentrations and mean raind...

Impact of tree saplings on the kinetic energy of rainfall—The importance of stand density, species identity and tree architecture in subtropical forests in China

<p>Flood properties are known to be sensitive to spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation, which in turn are affected by global warming. In this study, we investigated the effect of global warming on properties of heavy precipitation events (HPEs) in the eastern Mediterranean, focusing on hydrologically-important characteristics, including total precipitation amount, coverage area, precipitation duration and the distribution of rain rates for different durations. Then, we quantified how changes in precipitation due to global warming affect resulting flood properties for small-medium catchments in the study region.</p> <p>We used the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to simulate 41 HPEsin present and future (end of 21<sup>st</sup> century; RCP 8.5 scenario) climate conditions and output the precipitation fields at high resolution (1 km<sup>2</sup>, 10 min). The calibrated GB-HYDRA distributed hydrological model (<60 s, 100 m) was utilized to simulate floods from those HPEs in 4 small-medium-size basins (18–69 km<sup>2</sup>). To account for the rainfall spatial uncertainty in the simulations, spatial shifts were applied to the simulated HPEs in a range of 20 km north and south.</p> <p>We found a major decrease in precipitation accumulation (−30% averaged across events) in future HPEs. This decrease results from a substantial reduction of the rain area of storms (−40%) and occurs despite an increase in the mean conditional rain rate (+15%). In addition, the duration of the HPEs decreases (−9%) in future simulations. The above changes were consistent across events.</p> <p>These changes have opposite directions, suggesting that flood properties changes are not trivial. Our simulations indicate a future decrease in both flood volume (-27%) and peak discharge (-20%, non-significant) at the outlet of the catchments. On the other hand, peak discharge is increasing in the future for small sub-catchments (< 5 km<sup>2</sup>). We currently expand this research to account for expected changes in future antecedent soil moisture conditions and land-use.</p> <p>To conclude: with global warming, HPEs in the eastern Mediterranean are becoming drier and more spatiotemporally concentrated. Consequently, small and larger catchments respond differently to this change, with the former reacting to the increase in rain rates and producing higher flood peak discharge, while the latter reacts more to the reduction in total rainfall, area and duration, and results in lower flood volumes and peaks.</p>

The relatively high cost of commercially available raindrop spectrometers and disdrometers has inhibited detailed and intensive research on drop size distribution, kinetic energy and momentum of rainfall which are important for understanding and modelling soil erosion caused by raindrop detachment. In this study, an approach to find the drop size distribution, momentum and kinetic energy of rainfall using a relatively inexpensive device that uses a piezoelectric force transducer for sensing raindrop impact response is introduced. The instrument continuously and automatically records, on a time-scale, the amplitude of electrical pulses produced by the impact of raindrops on the surface of the transducer. The size distribution of the raindrops and their respective kinetic energy are calculated by analysing the number and amplitude of pulses recorded, and from the measured volume of total rainfall using a calibration curve. Simultaneous measurements of the instrument, a rain gauge and a dye-stain method were used to assess the performance of the instrument. Test results from natural and simulated rainfalls are presented. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Statistical errors of rain rate estimators due to natural variations in raindrop size distribution (DSD) are studied for 3-cm wavelength polarimetric radar. Four types of estimators are examined: A classical estimator R(ZH), and three types of polarimetric radar estimators R(KDP), R(ZH, ZDR), and R(KDP, ZDR), where R is the rain rate, ZH is the reflectivity factor at horizontal polarization, KDP is the specific differential phase, and ZDR is the differential reflectivity. The T-matrix method is employed for the scattering calculations, and a total of 7,664 one-minute raindrop size spectra, measured with a Joss-Waldvogel type disdrometer are used.According to simulation results, the normalized errors (NEs) of R(ZH), R(KDP), R(KDP,ZDR), and R(ZH,ZDR) for all DSD samples are 25%, 14%, 9%, and 10%, respectively. The NEs of all estimators, except R(ZH), tend to decrease with increasing rain rate. For rain rates larger than 10 mmh−1, e.g., the average NEs of R(ZH), R(KDP), R(KDP, ZDR), and R(ZH,ZDR) are 25%, 9%, 5%, and 7%, respectively. The simulation results show that the classical estimator R(ZH) is the most sensitive to variations in DSD and the estimator R(KDP, ZDR) is the least sensitive.The lowest sensitivity of the rain estimator R(KDP, ZDR) to variations in DSD can be explained by the following facts. The difference in the forward-scattering amplitudes at horizontal and vertical polarizations, which contributes KDP, is proportional to the 4.78th power of the drop diameter. On the other hand, the exponent of the backscatter cross section, which contributes to ZH, is proportional to the 6.38th power of the drop diameter. Because the rain rate R is proportional to the 3.67th power of the drop diameter, KDP is less sensitive to DSD variations than ZH. However, DSD spectra with unusually large median volume diameter D0 can increase the estimation error of R(KDP). The differential reflectivity ZDR reduces the effect of unusual D0 and is useful for further improvement of the estimator R(KDP). This is due to the fact that ZDR itself is a good measure of D0.

Rainfall kinetic energy controlling erosion processes and sediment sorting on steep hillslopes: A case study of clay loam soil from the Loess Plateau, China

降雨能量对东北典型黑土区土壤溅蚀的影响