2D Video Disdrometer Research Articles

Scattering Calculations at C-Band for Asymmetric Raindrops Reconstructed from 2D Video Disdrometer Measurements

AbstractThe distribution of raindrop shapes is well known to be important in deriving retrieval algorithms for drop size distribution parameters (such as the mass-weighted mean diameter) and rain rate, as well as for attenuation correction using the differential propagation phase constraint. While past work has shown that in the vast majority of rain events the most “probable” shapes conform to those arising primarily from the axisymmetric (2,0) oscillation mode, a more recent event analysis has shown that drop collisions can give rise to mixed-mode oscillations and that for high collision rate scenarios, a significant percentage of drops can become “asymmetric” at any given instant.As a follow-up to such studies, this study involved performing scattering calculations for 3D-reconstructed shapes of asymmetric drops using the shape measurements from a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) during the above-mentioned rain event. A recently developed technique is applied to facilitate the 3D reconstruction from the 2DVD camera data for these asymmetric drops. The reconstruction requires a specific technique to correct for the drop image distortions due to horizontal velocities. Scattering calculations for the reconstructed asymmetric drops have been performed using a higher-order method of moments solution to the electric and magnetic field surface integral equations. Results show that the C-band scattering amplitudes of asymmetric drops are markedly different from those of oblate spheroids. The intention for future studies is to automate the entire procedure so that more realistic simulations can be performed using the 2DVD-based data, particularly for cases where collision-induced drop oscillations give rise to considerable numbers of asymmetric drops.

Rain retrieval from dual‐frequency radar Doppler spectra: validation and potential for a midlatitude precipitating case‐study

A recently developed technique retrieving the binned raindrop size distributions (DSDs) and air state parameters from ground‐based Ka and W‐band radars Doppler spectra profiles is improved and applied to a typical midlatitude rain event. The retrievals are thoroughly validated against DSD observations of a 2D video disdrometer and independent X‐band observations. For this case‐study, profiles of rain rate, R, mean volume diameter and concentration parameter are retrieved, with low bias and standard deviations. In light rain (0.1 < R < 1 mm h−1), the radar reflectivities must be calibrated with a collocated disdrometer which introduces random errors due to sampling mismatch between the two instruments. The best performances are obtained in moderate rain (1 < R < 20 mm h−1) where the retrieval is providing self‐consistent estimates of the absolute calibration and of the attenuation caused by antenna or radome wetness for both radars.

Toward Completing the Raindrop Size Spectrum: Case Studies Involving 2D-Video Disdrometer, Droplet Spectrometer, and Polarimetric Radar Measurements

AbstractAnalysis of drop size distributions (DSD) measured by collocated Meteorological Particle Spectrometer (MPS) and a third-generation, low-profile, 2D-video disdrometer (2DVD) are presented. Two events from two different regions (Greeley, Colorado, and Huntsville, Alabama) are analyzed. While the MPS, with its 50-μm resolution, enabled measurements of small drops, typically for drop diameters below about 1.1 mm, the 2DVD provided accurate measurements for drop diameters above 0.7 mm. Drop concentrations in the 0.7–1.1-mm overlap region were found to be in excellent agreement between the two instruments. Examination of the combined spectra clearly reveals a drizzle mode and a precipitation mode. The combined spectra were analyzed in terms of the DSD parameters, namely, the normalized intercept parameter NW, the mass-weighted mean diameter Dm, and the standard deviation of mass spectrum σM. The inclusion of small drops significantly affected the NW and the ratio σM/Dm toward higher values relative to using the 2DVD-based spectra alone. For each of the two events, polarimetric radar data were used to characterize the variation of radar-measured reflectivity Zh and differential reflectivity Zdr with Dm from the combined spectra. In the Greeley event, this variation at S band was well captured for small values of Dm (<0.5 mm) where measured Zdr tended to 0 dB but Zh showed a noticeable decrease with decreasing Dm. For the Huntsville event, an overpass of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission Core Observatory satellite enabled comparison of satellite-based dual-frequency radar retrievals of Dm with ground-based DSD measurements. Small differences were found between the satellite-based radar retrievals and disdrometers.

Dual-Polarized Radar and Surface Observations of a Winter Graupel Shower with Negative Zdr Column

AbstractComprehensive analysis of an unusual graupel-shower event recorded by an S-band polarimetric radar and two optical-imaging surface instruments is presented. The primary radar characteristic was negative differential reflectivity Zdr values along a vertical column. During the afternoon hours of 16 February 2015, a sequence of three showers that were composed primarily of small (8–15-mm diameter) graupel affected the ground instrumentation site that was established for the Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera and Radar (MASCRAD) experiment in the high plains of Colorado. While these showers passed the instrumentation site, the CSU–CHILL radar conducted high-time-resolution (~2.5-min cycle time) range–height indicator (RHI) scans from a range of 13 km. The RHI data show that the negative Zdr values extended vertically through much of the reflectivity cores, implying that the reflectivity-weighted mean axis ratios of the graupel particles in this event remained somewhat prolate throughout their lifetime. To be specific, the cores of the convective showers only extended to heights of ~3.5 km AGL and had fractionally negative (from ~−0.3 to −0.7 dB) Zdr levels in those cores. Particle-image data obtained by the MASC system and by a collocated 2D video disdrometer measured the diameters, shapes, and fall speeds of the graupel particles as they reached the surface. The graupel particles were found to be primarily of the lump type with a slightly prolate mean shape (especially for the larger-diameter particles). Microwave backscatter calculations confirm that the graupel-particle shape and orientation characteristics are consistent with the observed slightly, but consistently, negative Zdr values.

Estimation of Raindrop Size Distribution Parameters Using Rain Attenuation Data from a Ku-Band Communications Satellite

The rain attenuation of down-link radio wave signals from the Superbird-C satellite and surface rainfall data have been used to estimate the parameters of exponential raindrop size distribution (DSD) at Koto Tabang (100.32 ° E, 0.20 ° S), West Sumatra, Indonesia. Prior to analyzing the measured data, the ability of the method to recover the parameters of known DSDs from which the samples were taken was examined. It was found that the method can accurately retrieve the input parameter of the sample. Only six case studies are presented here, so the results are representative rather than definitive. The method successfully estimated the DSD parameters of a stratiform case with steady intensity and deep convective rains of a short duration. This can be inferred from the small difference between the parameters derived from rain attenuation data and those derived from a 2D video disdrometer. The poor performance of the method was observed for a stratiform case with strong rain intensity fluctuation and shallow convective rains with very low rain top height. This phenomenon is probably due to the bias that may be inherent in the estimation of specific rain attenuation, such as the assumption of a constant path length throughout the rain.

Comparison of the TRMM Precipitation Radar rainfall estimation with ground-based disdrometer and radar measurements in South Greece

The performance of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) rainfall estimation algorithm is assessed, locally, in Crete island, south Greece, using data from a 2D-video disdrometer and a ground-based, X-band, polarimetric radar. A three-parameter, normalized Gamma drop size distribution is fitted to the disdrometer rain spectra; the latter are classified in stratiform and convective rain types characterized by different relations between distribution parameters. The method of moments estimates more accurately the distribution parameters than the best fit technique, which exhibits better agreement with and is more biased by the observed droplet distribution at large diameter values. Power laws between the radar reflectivity factor (Z) and the rainfall rate (R) are derived from the disdrometer data. A significant diversity of the prefactor and the exponent of the estimated power laws is observed, depending on the scattering model and the regression technique. The Z–R relationships derived from the disdrometer data are compared to those obtained from TRMM-PR data. Generally, the power laws estimated from the two datasets are different. Specifically, the greater prefactor found for the disdrometer data suggests an overestimation of rainfall rate by the TRMM-PR algorithm for light and moderate stratiform rain, which was the main rain type in the disdrometer dataset. Finally, contemporary data from the TRMM-PR and a ground-based, X-band, polarimetric radar are analyzed. Comparison of the corresponding surface rain rates for a rain event with convective characteristics indicates a large variability of R in a single TRMM-PR footprint, which typically comprises several hundreds of radar pixels. Thus, the coarse spatial resolution of TRMM-PR may lead to miss of significant high local peaks of convective rain. Also, it was found that the high temporal variability of convective rain may introduce significant errors in the estimation of bias of the satellite rainfall estimates with respect to data from ground-based radars.

Accurate Characterization of Winter Precipitation Using Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera, Visual Hull, Advanced Scattering Methods and Polarimetric Radar

This article proposes and presents a novel approach to the characterization of winter precipitation and modeling of radar observables through a synergistic use of advanced optical disdrometers for microphysical and geometrical measurements of ice and snow particles (in particular, a multi-angle snowflake camera—MASC), image processing methodology, advanced method-of-moments scattering computations, and state-of-the-art polarimetric radars. The article also describes the newly built and established MASCRAD (MASC + Radar) in-situ measurement site, under the umbrella of CSU-CHILL Radar, as well as the MASCRAD project and 2014/2015 winter campaign. We apply a visual hull method to reconstruct 3D shapes of ice particles based on high-resolution MASC images, and perform “particle-by-particle” scattering computations to obtain polarimetric radar observables. The article also presents and discusses selected illustrative observation data, results, and analyses for three cases with widely-differing meteorological settings that involve contrasting hydrometeor forms. Illustrative results of scattering calculations based on MASC images captured during these events, in comparison with radar data, as well as selected comparative studies of snow habits from MASC, 2D video-disdrometer, and CHILL radar data, are presented, along with the analysis of microphysical characteristics of particles. In the longer term, this work has potential to significantly improve the radar-based quantitative winter-precipitation estimation.

An Example of Persistent Microstructure in a Long Rain Event

Abstract A 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) probe was used to gather detailed drop measurements over a 770-min rain event. Accumulated totals of the rainfall and of the number of drops for each square centimeter showed persistent, significant correlated structures across the approximately 11 cm × 11 cm grid of the 2DVD. This is surprising because larger-scale studies suggest that the values in each square centimeter should be highly correlated with very little variation. Nevertheless, this correlation remains strikingly similar to what is observed at a coarser resolution, suggesting that it somehow scales with spatial resolution. However, because the correlation functions are not power laws, the origin of this scaling must be due to a factor other than fractal geometry. Analysis reveals that this occurs because of a filtering effect such that as the domain size (or resolution of a remote sensor) becomes finer, it is only the smaller wavelengths that contribute most to the variance so that the correlation function also scales. Consequently, correlated finescale structures can apparently occur even over 10 cm. This fine structure was also found for the kinetic energy and impact power of the rain, important for understanding the initiation of soil erosion. The patterns in the integrated parameters appeared to arise almost exclusively from patterns in the total number of drops with patterns in the drop sizes playing an insignificant role. Therefore, in future studies of rain it is recommended that the total number of drops be retained as a crucial variable.

Snow event classification with a 2D video disdrometer — A decision tree approach

Snowfall classification according to crystal type or degree of riming of the snowflakes is import for many atmospheric processes, e.g. wet deposition of aerosol particles. 2D video disdrometers (2DVD) have recently proved their capability to measure microphysical parameters of snowfall. The present work has the aim of classifying snowfall according to microphysical properties of single hydrometeors (e.g. shape and fall velocity) measured by means of a 2DVD. The constraints for the shape and velocity parameters which are used in a decision tree for classification of the 2DVD measurements, are derived from detailed on-site observations, combining automatic 2DVD classification with visual inspection. The developed decision tree algorithm subdivides the detected events into three classes of dominating crystal type (single crystals, complex crystals and pellets) and three classes of dominating degree of riming (weak, moderate and strong). The classification results for the crystal type were validated with an independent data set proving the unambiguousness of the classification. In addition, for three long-term events, good agreement of the classification results with independently measured maximum dimension of snowflakes, snowflake bulk density and surrounding temperature was found. The developed classification algorithm is applicable for wind speeds below 5.0ms-1 and has the advantage of being easily implemented by other users.

Precipitation microstructure in different Madden–Julian Oscillation phases over Sumatra

Intraseasonal variations of precipitation and its microstructure are investigated using measurements of the Equatorial Atmospheric Radar (EAR) facilities at Kototabang, west Sumatra, Indonesia (0.20°S, 100.32°E, 864m above sea level). Raindrop size distribution (DSD) observations are obtained from a 2D-Video Disdrometer (2DVD) with a near continuous record of operation over eight consecutive years (2003–2010). Precipitation types are classified using 1.3-GHz wind profiler observation, and are partitioned according to active and inactive convective phases of Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO). It is found that precipitation systems during the inactive phase are more continental in nature than those during the active phase. Cloud propagation from brightness temperature data indicates that Sumatra receives the rainfall mainly from maritime clouds during the active phase, while it is mainly from the continental clouds (land-based convection) during the inactive phase. Other remarkable differences between active and inactive phase precipitation systems are also observed from the vertical structure of precipitation. The precipitation during the inactive phase has deeper storms, a higher reflectivity aloft, more lightning activity and less stratiform characteristics, as compared to the active phase. Assessment of cloud effective radius of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data also shows a slight difference in the cloud droplet between the active and the inactive MJO phases. Different convective storms in different MJO phases lead to different DSD characteristics and Z–R relationships. The DSD during the inactive phase tends to have a higher concentration of medium and large-size drops than the active counterpart, consistent with the previous study during the first campaign of Coupling Processes in the Equatorial Atmosphere project. Although the DSD parameters and coefficient of Z–R relationships fall within the range of tropical maritime precipitation, mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm) for the deep convective rains during the inactive phase are somewhat larger than that for maritime and closer to the continental cluster. Therefore, continental-like DSDs are somewhat dominant during the inactive phase, consistent with the intraseasonal variation of precipitation structure. The causative processes of the observed difference in the DSD for the two phases have also been discussed with the help of satellite and radar data. Evaporation and updraft associated with the intense convection during the inactive phase seem to eliminate the small-sized drops from the spectra. Finally, radar reflectivity during the inactive phase is larger than that during the active MJO phase, at the same rainfall rate. This condition can limit the accuracy of radar-derived rainfall estimates for the tropics when applying a single Z–R relation to the two MJO phases, particularly for deep convective rains.

Improvement of vertical profiles of raindrop size distribution from micro rain radar using 2D video disdrometer measurements

A measurement scheme aimed at investigating precipitation properties based on collocated disdrometer and profiling instruments is used in many experimental campaigns. Raindrop size distribution (RSD) estimated by disdrometer is referred to the ground level; the collocated profiling instrument is supposed to provide complementary estimation at different heights of the precipitation column above the instruments. As part of the Special Observation Period 1 of the HyMeX (Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment) project, conducted between 5 September and 6 November 2012, a K-band vertically pointing micro rain radar (MRR) and a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) were installed close to each other at a site in the historic center of Rome (Italy). The raindrop size distributions collected by 2D video disdrometer are considered to be fairly accurate within the typical sizes of drops. Vertical profiles of raindrop sizes up to 1085m are estimated from the Doppler spectra measured by the micro rain radar with a height resolution of 35m. Several issues related to vertical winds, attenuation correction, Doppler spectra aliasing, and range-Doppler ambiguity limit the performance of MRR in heavy precipitation or in convection, conditions that frequently occur in late summer or in autumn in Mediterranean regions. In this paper, MRR Doppler spectra are reprocessed, exploiting the 2DVD measurements at ground to estimate the effects of vertical winds at 105m (the most reliable MRR lower height), in order to provide a better estimation of vertical profiles of raindrop size distribution from MRR spectra. Results show that the reprocessing procedure leads to a better agreement between the reflectivity computed at 105m from the reprocessed MRR spectra and that obtained from the 2DVD data. Finally, vertical profiles of MRR-estimated RSDs and their relevant moments (namely median volume diameter and reflectivity) are presented and discussed in order to investigate the microstructure of rain both in stratiform and convective conditions.

Influence of Beam Broadening on the Accuracy of Radar Polarimetric Rainfall Estimation

Abstract The quantitative estimation of rain rates using meteorological radar has been a major theme in radar meteorology and radar hydrology. The increase of interest in polarimetric radar is in part because polarization diversity can reduce the effect on radar precipitation estimates caused by raindrop size variability, which has allowed progress on radar rainfall estimation and on hydrometeorological applications. From an operational point of view, the promises regarding the improvement of radar rainfall accuracy have not yet been completely proven. The main reason behind these limits is the geometry of radar measurements combined with the variability of the spatial structure of the precipitation systems. To overcome these difficulties, a methodology has been developed to transform the estimated drop size distribution (DSD) provided by a vertically pointing micro rain radar to a profile given by a ground-based polarimetric radar. As a result, the rainfall rate at the ground is fixed at all ranges, whereas the broadening beam encompasses a large variability of DSDs. The resulting DSD profile is used to simulate the corresponding profile of radar measurements at C band. Rainfall algorithms based on polarimetric radar measurements were taken into account to estimate the rainfall into the radar beam. Finally, merit factors were used to achieve a quantitative analysis of the performance of the rainfall algorithm in comparison with the corresponding measurements at the ground obtained from a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) that was positioned beside the micro rain radar. In this method, the behavior change of the merit factors in the range is directly attributable to the DSD variability inside the radar measurement volume, thus providing an assessment of the effects due to beam broadening.

Estimation of Spatial Correlation of Drop Size Distribution Parameters and Rain Rate Using NASA’s S-Band Polarimetric Radar and 2D Video Disdrometer Network: Two Case Studies from MC3E

Abstract Polarimetric radar data obtained at high spatial and temporal resolutions offer a distinct advantage in estimating the spatial correlation function of drop size distribution (DSD) parameters and rain rate compared with a fixed gauge–disdrometer network. On two days during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) campaign in Oklahoma, NASA’s S-band polarimetric radar (NPOL) performed repeated PPI scans every 40 s over six 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) sites, located 20–30 km from the radar. The two cases were 1) a rapidly evolving multicell rain event (with large drops) and 2) a long-duration stratiform rain event. From the time series at each polar pixel, the Pearson correlation coefficient is computed as a function of distance along each radial in the PPI scan. Azimuthal dependence is found, especially for the highly convective event. A pseudo-1D spatial correlation is computed that is fitted to a modified-exponential function with two parameters (decorrelation distance R0 and shape F). The first event showed significantly higher spatial variability in rain rate (shorter decorrelation distance R0 = 3.4 km) compared with the second event with R0 = 10.2 km. Further, for the second event, the spatial correlation of the DSD parameters and rain rate from radar showed good agreement with 2DVD-based spatial correlations over distances ranging from 1.5 to 7 km. The NPOL also performed repeated RHI scans every 40 s along one azimuth centered over the 2DVD network. Vertical correlations of the DSD parameters as well as the rainwater content were determined below the melting level, with the first event showing more variability compared with the second event.

Separating stratiform and convective rain types based on the drop size distribution characteristics using 2D video disdrometer data

A technique for separating stratiform and convective rain types using the characteristics of two of the main drop size distribution (DSD) parameters is presented. The method was originally developed based on observations from dual-frequency profiler and dual-polarization radar observations in Darwin, Australia. In this paper, we will present the testing of the method using data from 2D video disdrometers (2DVD) from two very different locations, namely, Ontario, Canada, and Huntsville, Alabama, USA. One-minute DSDs from 2DVD are used as input to a gamma-fitting procedure and our separation technique uses the fitted values of log10(NW) and D0 (where NW is the scaling parameter and D0 is the median volume diameter) and an “index” to quantify where the points lie in the log10(NW) versus D0 domain.For the Ontario location, the output of the classification is compared with simultaneous observations from a collocated, vertically pointing, X-band Doppler radar. A “bright-band” detection algorithm is used to classify each height profile as either stratiform or convective, depending on whether or not a clearly defined melting layer is present at an expected height. If present, the maximum reflectivity within the melting layer and the corresponding height are determined. Similar testing is carried out for two events in Huntsville and compared with observations from a collocated UHF profiler (with Doppler capability). Additional case studies are required, but these results indicate our separation technique seems to be applicable to many different locations and climatologies based on previously published data.

2DVD Data Revisited: Multifractal Insights into Cuts of the Spatiotemporal Rainfall Process

Abstract Data collected during four heavy rainfall events that occurred in Ardèche (France) with the help of a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) are used to investigate the structure of the raindrop distribution in both space and time. A first type of analysis is based on the reconstruction of 36-m-height vertical rainfall columns above the measuring device. This reconstruction is obtained with the help of a ballistic hypothesis applied to 1-ms time step series. The corresponding snapshots are analyzed with the help of universal multifractals. For comparison, a similar analysis is performed on the time series with 1-ms time steps, as well as on time series of accumulation maps of N consecutive recorded drops (therefore with variable time steps). It turns out that the drop distribution exhibits a good scaling behavior in the range 0.5–36 m during the heaviest portion of the events, confirming the lack of empirical evidence of the widely used homogenous assumption for drop distribution. For smaller scales, drop positions seem to be homogeneously distributed. The notion of multifractal singularity is well illustrated by the very high-resolution time series.

Use of 2D-video disdrometer to derive mean density–size and Ze–SR relations: Four snow cases from the light precipitation validation experiment

The application of the 2D-video disdrometer to measure fall speed and snow size distribution and to derive liquid equivalent snow rate, mean density–size and reflectivity–snow rate power law is described. Inversion of the methodology proposed by Böhm provides the pathway to use measured fall speed, area ratio and ‘3D’ size measurement to estimate the mass of each particle. Four snow cases from the Light Precipitation Validation Experiment are analyzed with supporting data from other instruments such as the Precipitation Occurrence Sensor System (POSS), Snow Video Imager (SVI), a network of seven snow gauges and three scanning C-band radars. The radar-based snow accumulations using the 2DVD-derived Ze–SR relation are in good agreement with a network of seven snow gauges and outperform the accumulations derived from a climatological Ze–SR relation used by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The normalized bias between radar-derived and gauge accumulation is reduced from 96% when using the fixed FMI relation to 28% when using the Ze–SR relations based on 2DVD data. The normalized standard error is also reduced significantly from 66% to 31%. For two of the days with widely different coefficients of the Ze–SR power law, the reflectivity structure showed significant differences in spatial variability. Liquid water path estimates from radiometric data also showed significant differences between the two cases. Examination of SVI particle images at the measurement site corroborated these differences in terms of unrimed versus rimed snow particles. The findings reported herein support the application of Böhm's methodology for deriving the mean density–size and Ze–SR power laws using data from 2D-video disdrometer.

Recent measurements and inferences of drop shapes in rain from 2D-video disdrometer and polarimetric radar

Two events with contrasting drop fall velocity versus drop shape characteristics are discussed. The events were captured by two collocated 2D video disdrometers, as well as a C-band polarimetric radar, 15 km away. Contoured images of the drops as well as their fall velocities from the disdrometer measurements, together with the analysis of simultaneously recorded radar observations, point towards the possibility of mixed mode drop oscillations including the horizontal mode occurring for the second event. The first event --which occurred 7 days prior-did not show any unusual characteristics, and represents the majority of the recorded events. Results are presented and discussed.

Raindrop axis ratios, fall velocities and size distribution over Sumatra from 2D-Video Disdrometer measurement

Raindrop axis ratio, falling velocity and size distribution are important in broad list of applications. However, they are not frequently observed in the equatorial region. This paper elucidated the characteristics of raindrop axis ratio, falling velocity and size distribution based on 2D-Video Disdrometer (2DVD) data that have been collected in the equatorial Indonesia, particularly at Kototabang (hereafter called KT), west Sumatra, Indonesia (0.20°S, 100.32°E, 864m above sea level). A comprehensive follow-up of the previous study on the natural variability of raindrop size distributions (DSDs) is presented. Precipitation was classified through 1.3-GHz wind profiler observation. The dependence of raindrop falling velocity and axis ratio on rainfall type was not clearly observed. Overall, measured raindrop fall velocities were in good agreement with Gunn–Kinzer's data. Raindrop axis ratio at KT was more spherical than that of artificial rain and equilibrium model, and close to the values reported in the turbulent high shear zone of surface layer which can be partially due to the effect of the instrument errors (e.g., location and container shape). Of some natural variations of DSD investigated, the dependence of DSD on rainfall rate and rainfall type as well as diurnal variation was clearly visible. A striking contrast between the stratiform and convective rains is that the size distributions from the stratiform (convective) rains tend to narrow (broaden) with increasing rainfall rates. For rainfall rate R<10mm/h, the size distribution of stratiform was broader than that of convective. On the other hand, at higher rainfall rate more large-sized drops were found in convective rain. During the convective rain, very large-sized drops were found mainly at the very start of rain event while for the stratiform they were found to be associated with a strong bright band. In diurnal basis, the DSDs in the morning hours were narrower than those in the evening which was indicated by smaller Dm values in the morning hours than their counterparts in the evening. Rainfall type dependence and diurnal variation of DSD lead to significant variation of Z–R relations so that they must be considered to increase the accuracy of Z–R conversion from weather radar in this region. Consistent with the previous study, lack of seasonal DSD variability was also found in this work that would be due to significant local convective and orographic effect at this region throughout the year. However, Dm values in our result were larger than the typical orographic DSD.

Winter Precipitation Microphysics Characterized by Polarimetric Radar and Video Disdrometer Observations in Central Oklahoma

AbstractThe study of precipitation in different phases is important to understanding the physical processes that occur in storms, as well as to improving their representation in numerical weather prediction models. A 2D video disdrometer was deployed about 30 km from a polarimetric weather radar in Norman, Oklahoma, (KOUN) to observe winter precipitation events during the 2006/07 winter season. These events contained periods of rain, snow, and mixed-phase precipitation. Five-minute particle size distributions were generated from the disdrometer data and fitted to a gamma distribution; polarimetric radar variables were also calculated for comparison with KOUN data. It is found that snow density adjustment improves the comparison substantially, indicating the importance of accounting for the density variability in representing model microphysics.

A Methodology to Derive Radar Reflectivity–Liquid Equivalent Snow Rate Relations Using C-Band Radar and a 2D Video Disdrometer

Abstract The objective of this work is to derive equivalent radar reflectivity factor–liquid equivalent snow rate (Ze–SR) power-law relations for snowfall using the C-band King City operational weather radar and a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD). The 2DVD provides two orthogonal views of each snow particle that falls through its 10 cm × 10 cm virtual sensor area. The “size” parameter used here for describing the size distribution is based on the “apparent” volume computed from the two images, and an equivolume spherical diameter Dapp is defined. The determination of fall speed is based on matching two images corresponding to the same particle as it falls through two light planes separated by a precalibrated separation distance. A new “rematching” algorithm was developed to improve the quality of the fall speed versus Dapp as compared with the original matching algorithm provided by the manufacturer. The snow density is parameterized in the conventional power-law form , where α and β are assumed to be variable. To account for strong horizontal winds that tend to decrease the measured concentrations from the 2DVD, a third parameter γ is introduced. The methodology estimates the three parameters (α, β, and γ) by minimizing the difference between the radar-measured reflectivity and the equivalent reflectivity computed from the 2DVD in a least squares sense. The optimally determined values of α, β, and γ are used to estimate the SR and the coefficient and exponent of the Ze = a(SR)b relation. For validation, the accumulation from the SR is compared with the manually recorded accumulations from the double-fence international reference (DFIR) gauge. The data were collected during the Canadian Cloudsat Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) Validation Project (C3VP) conducted in Ontario, Canada, during the 2006/07 winter season. A total of seven snow days were analyzed and the accumulation intercomparisons gave a fractional standard deviation of 26% and normalized bias 2.1%. The range of the a and b values for the seven days appear reasonable and similar to conventional Ze–R relations.