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Rain retrieval from dual‐frequency radar Doppler spectra: validation and potential for a midlatitude precipitating case‐study
Author(s) -
Tridon F.,
Battaglia A.,
Luke E.,
Kollias P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.3010
Subject(s) - disdrometer , doppler effect , middle latitudes , environmental science , remote sensing , radar , calibration , attenuation , stratosphere , meteorology , precipitation , physics , geology , rain gauge , mathematics , computer science , optics , statistics , telecommunications , astronomy
A recently developed technique retrieving the binned raindrop size distributions (DSDs) and air state parameters from ground‐based K a 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.