Merhala Thurai

Drop Axis Ratios from a 2D Video Disdrometer

Abstract Results from an experiment to measure the drop shapes using a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD) are reported. Under calm conditions, drops were generated from a hose located on a bridge 80 m above ground, this height being sufficient to allow drop oscillations to reach a steady state. The disdrometer data had to be carefully processed so as to eliminate the drops mismatched by the instrument and to remove the system spreading function. The total number of drops analyzed was around 115 000. Their axis ratio distributions were obtained for diameters ranging from 1.5 to 9 mm. The mean axis ratio decreases with increasing drop diameter, in agreement with the upper bound of the Beard and Chuang equilibrium shape model. The inferred mode of oscillation appears to be dominated by the oblate–prolate axisymmetric mode for the diameter range of 1.5 to 9 mm. The mean axis ratio agrees well with two empirically fitted formulas reported in earlier studies. In addition, a linear fit was applied to the data for radar...

Drop Shapes, Model Comparisons, and Calculations of Polarimetric Radar Parameters in Rain

Abstract Drop shapes derived from a previously conducted artificial rain experiment using a two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) are presented. The experiment involved drops falling over a distance of 80 m to achieve their terminal velocities as well as steady-state oscillations. The previous study analyzed the measured axis ratios (i.e., ratio of maximum vertical to maximum horizontal chord) as a function of equivolumetric spherical drop diameter (Deq) for over 115 000 drops ranging from 1.5 to 9 mm. In this paper, the actual contoured shapes of the drops are reported, taking into account the finite quantization limits of the instrument. The shapes were derived from the fast line-scanning cameras of the 2DVD. The drops were categorized into Deq intervals of 0.25-mm width and the smoothed contours for each drop category were superimposed on each other to obtain their most probable shapes and their variations due to drop oscillations. The most probable shapes show deviation from oblate spheroids for De...

Using Dual-Polarized Radar and Dual-Frequency Profiler for DSD Characterization: A Case Study from Darwin, Australia

Abstract Comparisons are made between the reflectivity Z, median volume diameter D0, and rain rate R from a dual-frequency profiler and the C-band polarimetric radar (C-POL), which are both located near Darwin, Australia. Examples from the premonsoon “buildup” regime and the monsoon (oceanic) regime are used to illustrate the excellent agreement between the dual-profiler retrievals and the polarimetric radar-based retrievals. This work builds on similar works that were limited in scope to shallow tropical showers and predominantly stratiform rain events. The dual-frequency profiler retrievals of D0 and R herein are based on ensemble statistics, whereas the polarimetric radar retrievals are based on algorithms derived by using one season of disdrometer data from Darwin along with scattering simulations. The latest drop shape versus D relation is used as well as the canting angle distribution results obtained from the 80-m fall bridge experiment in the scattering simulations. The scatterplot of D0 from dual...

Rainfall Estimation with an Operational Polarimetric C-Band Radar in the United Kingdom: Comparison with a Gauge Network and Error Analysis

AbstractThe estimate of rainfall using data from an operational dual-polarized C-band radar in convective storms in southeast United Kingdom is compared against a network of gauges. Four different rainfall estimators are considered: reflectivity–rain-rate (Z–R) relation, with and without correcting for rain attenuation; a composite estimator, based on (i) Z–R, (ii) R(Z, Zdr), and (iii) R(Kdp); and exclusively R(Kdp). The various radar rain-rate estimators are developed using Joss disdrometer data from Chilbolton, United Kingdom. Hourly accumulations over radar pixels centered on the gauge locations are compared, with approximately 2500 samples available for gauge hourly accumulations > 0.2 mm. Overall, the composite estimator performed the “best” based on robust statistical measures such as mean absolute error, the Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient, and mean bias, at all rainfall thresholds (>0.2, 1, 3, or 6 mm) with improving measures at the higher thresholds of >3 and >6 mm (higher rain rates). Error variance ...

Do We Observe Aerosol Impacts on DSDs in Strongly Forced Tropical Thunderstorms

AbstractRain drop size distributions retrieved from polarimetric radar measurements over regularly occurring thunderstorms over the islands north of Darwin, Australia, are used to test if aerosol contributions to the probability distributions of the drop size distribution parameters (median volume diameter and normalized intercept parameter) are detectable. The observations reported herein are such that differences in cloud properties arising from thermodynamic differences are minimized but even so may be a factor. However, there is a clear signature that high aerosol concentrations are correlated with smaller number concentrations and larger drops. This may be associated with enhanced ice multiplication processes for low aerosol concentration storms or other processes such as invigoration of the updrafts.

CPOL Radar-Derived Drop Size Distribution Statistics of Stratiform and Convective Rain for Two Regimes in Darwin, Australia

Abstract This note builds on prior technique development related to the classification of rain types utilizing C-band polarimetric (CPOL) radar measurements. While the prior work was preliminary and limited in scope, the authors elaborate here on the basis of the drop size distribution (DSD)-based indexing technique for rain-type classification (convective/stratiform/mixed), and place it on firmer footing by testing the methodology against texture- and disdrometer-based methods as applied to Darwin datasets. A microphysical-based methodology is attractive as it links more directly to the underlying rainfall physical processes. Statistics of the DSD parameters, namely, histograms of log10(Nw) and D0, for convective and stratiform rain types across the premonsoon buildup and monsoon regimes were derived and further separated for over land and over ocean regions. The maximum value for mean D0 (1.64 mm) and the largest histogram standard deviation (0.32 mm) occurred for convective rain over land during the bu...

A Robust C-Band Hydrometeor Identification Algorithm and Application to a Long-Term Polarimetric Radar Dataset

AbstractA new 10-category, polarimetric-based hydrometeor identification algorithm (HID) for C band is developed from theoretical scattering simulations including wet snow, hail, and big drops/melting hail. The HID is applied to data from seven wet seasons in Darwin, Australia, using the polarimetric C-band (C-POL) radar, to investigate microphysical differences between monsoon and break periods. Scattering simulations reveal significant Mie effects with large hail (diameter > 1.5 cm), with reduced reflectivity and enhanced differential reflectivity Zdr and specific differential phase Kdp relative to those associated with S band. Wet snow is found to be associated with greatly depreciated correlation coefficient ρhv and moderate values of Zdr. It is noted that large oblate liquid drops can produce the same electromagnetic signatures at C band as melting hail falling quasi stably, resulting in some ambiguity in the HID retrievals. Application of the new HID to seven seasons of C-POL data reveals that hail ...

Freezing height distribution in the tropics

The calculation of fade margins required to meet the user-specified availability criteria needs to take into consideration a number of meteorological factors specific to the earth-station location. One such factor is the annual average of the freezing level height. Information on this height is available in ITU-R Recommendation P. 839-3, which provides contours that are generated on a 1.5° by 1.5° latitude by longitude resolution grid. This paper compares these heights with the bright-band heights (BBH) obtained from the precipitation radar on-board the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite. Four years of TRMM radar data have been analysed, and their averages are compared within the latitude range covered by the satellite orbit (35°N to 35°S). Comparisons show that the radar bright-band heights typically occur 300 m below the 0°C isotherm heights. However, results also indicate that this difference may be latitude dependent. Also examined are the year-to-year variability and the seasonal variation. In the former case, only 1998 showed BBH values which are somewhat higher in tropical regions, this year having had one of the strongest El Nino events recorded. In the latter case, results show significant seasonal variation, becoming more pronounced at higher latitudes. Copyright

Drop Shapes and Fall Speeds in Rain: Two Contrasting Examples

AbstractTwo rain events are analyzed using two collocated 2D-video disdrometers (2DVD) and a C-band polarimetric radar at 15-km distance. Both events had moderate-to-intense rainfall rates, but the second event had an embedded convective line. For the first event, the fall speed distribution for a given drop diameter interval showed a narrow and symmetric distribution with a mode at the expected value; the second event produced a wider distribution with a significant skewness toward lower fall speeds. The “slower” drops in the second event were detected while the convective line was directly over the 2DVD site. Drop shape information from the two 2DVD instruments showed that, during the passage of the convection line, around 30%–40% of the drops did not have an axis of rotational symmetry, whereas for event 1, it was only 5%. The implications are that for event 1 the dominant mode of drop oscillation is the axisymmetric mode, and that within the convective line of event 2 other fundamental modes were freq...

Estimating the Accuracy of Polarimetric Radar–Based Retrievals of Drop-Size Distribution Parameters and Rain Rate: An Application of Error Variance Separation Using Radar-Derived Spatial Correlations

AbstractThe accuracy of retrieving the two drop size distribution (DSD) parameters, median volume diameter (D0), and normalized intercept parameter (NW), as well as rain rate (R), from polarimetric C-band radar data obtained during a cool-season, long-duration precipitation event in Huntsville, Alabama, is examined. The radar was operated in a special “near-dwelling” mode over two video disdrometers (2DVD) located 15 km away. The polarimetric radar–based retrieval algorithms for the DSD parameters and rain rate were obtained from simulations using the 2DVD measurements of the DSD. A unique feature of this paper is the radar-based estimation of the spatial correlation functions of the two DSD parameters and rain rate that are used to estimate the “point-to-area” variance. A detailed error variance separation is performed, including the aforementioned point-to-area variance, along with variance components due to the retrieval algorithm error, radar measurement error, and disdrometer sampling error. The spat...