Open AccessRemote sensing of raindrop size distribution using the coherent Doppler lidar
Author(s) -
Tianwen Wei,
Haiyun Xia,
Bin Yue,
Yuqi Wu,
Qi Liu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.426326
Subject(s) - lidar , remote sensing , doppler effect , optics , mie scattering , wavelength , aerosol , scattering , superposition principle , radar , physics , doppler radar , environmental science , meteorology , light scattering , geology , computer science , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , astronomy
The coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDL) shows capability in precipitation detection. Retrieval of the raindrop size distribution (DSD) using CDL is still challenging work, as both accurate backscattering cross section at the working wavelength and reflectivity spectrum of raindrop are required. Firstly, the Mie theory and the vectorial complex ray model (VCRM) are applied to calculate backscattering cross section for small spheric raindrops and large oblate raindrops, respectively. Secondly, an iterative deconvolution method is proposed to separate the reflectivity spectrum of raindrop from the lidar power spectrum, which is a superposition of rain and aerosol components. An accompanying aerosol signal model considering the effect of temporal window, from the same height and time, is used to improve the accuracy and robustness of the iteration. In experiment, a co-located micro rain radar (MRR) is used for comparison. Good agreements are obtained despite tremendous differences in wavelength and scattering characteristics. As an example, at 600 m height, the R 2 of linear fitting to the mean rain velocity and mean raindrop diameter between CDL and MRR are 0.96 and 0.93, respectively.