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The retrieval of the mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm) is a fundamental component of spaceborne precipitation retrievals. The Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite is the first satellite to use dual-wavelength ratio measurements—the quotient of radar reflectivity factors (Z) measured at Ku and Ka wavelengths—to retrieve Dm. While it is established that DWR, being theoretically insensitive to changes in ice crystal mass and concentration, can provide a superior retrieval of Dm compared to Z-based retrievals, the benefits of this retrieval have yet to be directly observed or quantified. In this study, DWR–Dm and Z–Dm relationships are empirically generated from collocated airborne radar and in situ cloud particle probe measurements. Data are collected during nine intensive observation periods (IOPs) from three experiments representing different locations and times of year. Across IOPs with varying ice crystal concentrations, cloud temperatures, and storm types, Z–Dm relationships vary considerably while the DWR–Dm relationship remains consistent. This study confirms that a DWR–Dm relationship can provide a more accurate and consistent Dm retrieval than a Z–Dm relationship, quantified by a reduced overall RMSE (0.19 and 0.25 mm, respectively) and a reduced range of biases between experiments (0.11 and 0.32 mm, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variational method formulated in Part I for analyzing vortex flow (VF), called VF-Var, is tested with simulated radar radial-velocity observations from idealized and pseudo-operational Doppler scans of analytically formulated benchmark vortices with spiral-band structures to resemble VFs in observed tornadic mesocyclones. The idealized Doppler scans are unidirectional in parallel along horizontal grid lines of a coarse-resolution grid, so they measure only the horizontal components of three-dimensional velocities in the analysis domain. The pseudo-operational Doppler scans mimic a scan mode used by operationalWSR-88Ds for severe storms. Paired numerical experiments are designed and performed to test the two-step analysis versus single-step analysis formulated in VF-Var. Both analyses performvery well with dual-Doppler scans and reasonably well with single-Doppler scans. Errors in the analyzed velocities from single-Doppler scans are mainly in the unobserved velocity components and only in fractions of the benchmark velocities. When the vortex is upright or slanted in the direction perpendicular to idealized single-Doppler scans, the two-step analysis slightly outperforms the single-step analysis for idealized Doppler scans and pseudo-operational dual-Doppler scans. When the vortex becomes slanted in the direction largely along or against Doppler scans, both analyses become less (more) accurate in analyzing the horizontal (slantwise vertical) velocity, and the single-step analysis outperforms the two-step analysis especially for single-Doppler scans. By considering the projections of analyzed velocity on radar beams in the original Cartesian coordinates, useful insights are gained for understanding why and how the analysis accuracies are affected by vortex slanting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Techniques to mitigate analysis errors arising from the nonsimultaneity of data collections typically use advection-correction procedures based on the hypothesis (frozen turbulence) that the analyzed field can be represented as a pattern of unchanging form in horizontal translation. It is more difficult to advection correct the radial velocity than the reflectivity because even if the vector velocity field satisfies this hypothesis, its radial component does not—but that component does satisfy a second-derivative condition. We treat the advection correction of the radial velocity (υr) as a variational problem in which errors in that second-derivative condition are minimized subject to smoothness constraints on spatially variable pattern-translation components (U, V). The Euler–Lagrange equations are derived, and an iterative trajectory-based solution is developed in which U, V, and υr are analyzed together. The analysis code is first verified using analytical data, and then tested using Atmospheric Imaging Radar (AIR) data from a band of heavy rainfall on 4 September 2018 near El Reno, Oklahoma, and a decaying tornado on 27 May 2015 near Canadian, Texas. In both cases, the analyzed υr field has smaller root-mean-square errors and larger correlation coefficients than in analyses based on persistence, linear time interpolation, or advection correction using constant U and V. As some experimentation is needed to obtain appropriate parameter values, the procedure is more suitable for non-real-time applications than use in an operational setting. In particular, the degree of spatial variability in U and V, and the associated errors in the analyzed υr field are strongly dependent on a smoothness parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of vortex Rossby waves (VRWs) and their role in the development of a secondary eyewall in Hurricane Matthew (2016) is examined from observations taken during the NOAA Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology (SHOUT) field experiment. Radar measurements from ground-based and airborne systems, with a focus on the NASA High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) instrument on the Global Hawk aircraft, revealed the presence of; 12-15-km-wavelength spiral bands breaking from the inner-core eyewall in the downshear-right quadrant. The vorticity characteristics and calculations of the intrinsic phase speeds of the bands are shown to be consistent with sheared VRWs. A new angular momentum budget methodology is presented that allows an understanding of the secondary eyewall development process with narrow-swath radar measurements. Filtering of the governing equations enables explicit insight into the nonlinear dynamics of scale interactions and the role of the VRWs in the storm structure change. The results indicate that the large-scale (scales .15 km) vertical flux convergence of angular momentum associated with the VRWs dominates the time tendency with smaller effects from the radial flux term. The small-scale (scales # 15 km) vertical term produces weak, but nonnegligible nonlinear forcing of the large scales primarily through the Reynolds and cross-stress components. The projection of the wave kinematics onto the low-wavenumber (0 and 1) fields appears to be the more significant dynamic process. Flight-level observations show secondary peaks in tangential winds in the radial region where the VRW forcing signatures are active, connecting them with the secondary eyewall formation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar and rawinsonde data from four ground-based observing stations in the tropical Indo-Pacific warm pool were used to identify possible associations of environmental state variables and their vertical profiles with radar-derived rain rate inside a mesoscale radar domain when the column-integrated relative humidity (CRH) exceeds 80%. At CRH exceeding 80%, a wide range--from near 0 to ;50mmday21--in rain rate is observed; therefore, tropospheric moisture was a necessary but insufficient condition for deep convection. This study seeks to identify possible factors that inhibit rainfall when the atmosphere is sufficiently moist to support large precipitation rates. The domain-mean rain rate was highly sensitive to the areal coverage of intense, convective rainfall that occurs. There were two fundamentally different instances in which convective area was low. One was when the radar domain is primarily occupied by weakly precipitating, stratiform echoes. The other was when the radar domain contained almost no precipitating echoes of any type. While the former was dependent upon the stage of the convective life cycle seen by radar, the latter was probably dependent upon the convective environment. Areal coverage of convective echoes was largely determined by the number of individual convective echoes rather than their sizes, so changes in the clear-air environment of updrafts might have governed how many updrafts grew into deep cumulonimbi. The most likely environmental influence on convective rainfall identified using rawinsonde data was 900--700-hPa lapse rate; however, processes occurring on spatial scales smaller than a radar domain were probably also important but not investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a dense rain gauge network, radar observations, and an upslope model to document the detailed aspects of precipitation over Da-Tun Mountain (DT) of northern Taiwan under prevailing northeasterly monsoonal flow. DT is one of the most concentrated areas of heavy rainfall in Taiwan, with a size of ~15 km and a terrain peak of ~1 km (MSL), and it constitutes a concave ridge with two windward ridge arms that encompass a funnel-shaped valley. Twenty-one rainfall events identified over DT from January 2011 to February 2015 are chosen for analysis. More than half of the studied cases exhibit two local maxima of rainfall over the ridge arms, and asymmetric characteristics between these two maxima are evident. The other frequent rainfall pattern, observed as upstream winds are more from the east-northeast, is characterized by a local maximum of precipitation inside the valley. Analyses from the upslope model confirm that the occurrence of the windward maxima of rainfall is primarily caused by upslope lifting, and their asymmetric characteristics are closely related to the difference in the azimuthal variations of slope steepness between the two ridge arms. The observed characteristics of rainfall intensities inside the valley, however, cannot be well described by the upslope model. It is found that the lateral flow confluence induced by the deflected flows over the ridge arms may play an essential role in intensifying upslope-forced precipitation within the valley. This effect emerges as upstream winds are roughly parallel to the central axis of funneling regions located between the ridge arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using three years of observations from the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) aboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, properties of the cores of deep convection are examined. First, deep convective systems are selected, defined as GPM precipitation features with maximum 20-dBZ echo-top heights above 10 km. The cores of deep convection are described by the profiles of Ku- and Ka-band radar reflectivity at the location of the highest echo top in each deep convective system. Then the dual-frequency ratio (DFR) profile is derived by subtracting Ka-band from Ku-band radar reflectivity. It is found that values of DFR are larger over land than over ocean in general near the top of the convection, which is consistent with larger ice particles in stronger updrafts in continental convection. The magnitude of DFR at 12 km is positively correlated with the convection intensity indicated by 20- and 30-dBZ echo tops. The microphysical properties including volume-weighted mean diameter, ice water content, and total ice particle number concentration are derived using a simple lookup table approach. Under the same particle size distribution assumption, the cores of deep convection over land have larger ice particle size, higher ice water content, and lower particle concentration than those over ocean at levels above 10 km, but with some distinct regional variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors present observations of the microphysical characteristics of deep convection that overshoots the altitude of the extratropical tropopause from analysis of the polarimetric radar variables of radar reflectivity factor at horizontal polarization ZH, differential reflectivity ZDR, and specific differential phase KDP. Identified overshooting convective storms are separated by their organization and intensity into three classifications: organized convection, discrete ordinary convection, and discrete supercell convection. Composite analysis of identified storms for each classification reveals microphysical features similar to those found in previous studies of deep convection, with deep columns of highly positive ZDR and KDP representing lofting of liquid hydrometeors within the convective updraft and above the melting level. In addition, organized and discrete supercell classifications show distinct near-zero ZDR minima aligned horizontally with and at altitudes higher than the updraft column features, likely indicative of the frequent presence of large hail in each case. Composites for organized convective systems show a similar ZDR minimum throughout the portion of the convective core that is overshooting the tropopause, corresponding to ZH in the range of 15-30 dB Z and negative KDP observations, in agreement with the scattering properties of small hail and/or lump or conical graupel. Additional analyses of the evolution of overshooting storms reveals that the ZDR minima indicative of hail in the middle and upper troposphere and graupel in the overshooting top are associated with the mature and decaying stages of overshooting, respectively, supporting their inferred contributions to the observed polarimetric fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) shipborne [Research Vessel (R/V) Roger Revelle] radar and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) datasets to investigate MJO-associated convective systems in specific organizational modes [mesoscale convective system (MCS) versus sub-MCS and linear versus nonlinear]. The Revelle radar sampled many 'climatological' aspects of MJO convection as indicated by comparison with the long-term TRMM PR statistics, including areal-mean rainfall (6-7 mm day−1), convective intensity, rainfall contributions from different morphologies, and their variations with MJO phase. Nonlinear sub-MCSs were present 70% of the time but contributed just around 20% of the total rainfall. In contrast, linear and nonlinear MCSs were present 10% of the time but contributed 20% and 50%, respectively. These distributions vary with MJO phase, with the largest sub-MCS rainfall fraction in suppressed phases (phases 5-7) and maximum MCS precipitation in active phases (phases 2 and 3). Similarly, convective-stratiform rainfall fractions also varied significantly with MJO phase, with the highest convective fractions (70%-80%) in suppressed phases and the largest stratiform fraction (40%-50%) in active phases. However, there are also discrepancies between the Revelle radar and TRMM PR. Revelle radar data indicated a mean convective rain fraction of 70% compared to 55% for TRMM PR. This difference is mainly due to the reduced resolution of the TRMM PR compared to the ship radar. There are also notable differences in the rainfall contributions as a function of convective intensity between the Revelle radar and TRMM PR. In addition, TRMM PR composites indicate linear MCS rainfall increases after MJO onset and produce similar rainfall contributions to nonlinear MCSs; however, the Revelle radar statistics show the clear dominance of nonlinear MCS rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of ice number concentration in clouds are important but still pose problems. The pattern of ice development in stratiform mixed-phase clouds (SMCs) offers an opportunity to use cloud radar reflectivity ( Z e) measurements and other cloud properties to retrieve ice number concentrations. To quantify the strong temperature dependencies of ice crystal habits and growth rates, a one-dimensional (1D) ice growth model has been developed to calculate ice diffusional growth and riming growth along ice particle fallout trajectories in SMCs. The radar reflectivity and fallout velocity profiles of ice crystals calculated from the 1D ice growth model are evaluated with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) ground-based high-vertical-resolution radar measurements. A method has been developed to retrieve ice number concentrations in SMCs at a specific cloud-top temperature (CTT) and liquid water path (LWP) by combining Z e measurements and 1D ice growth model simulations. The retrieved ice number concentrations in SMCs are evaluated using integrated airborne in situ and remote sensing measurements and three-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulations with a bin microphysical scheme. The statistical evaluations show that the retrieved ice number concentrations in the SMCs are within an uncertainty of a factor of 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current cloud microphysical schemes used in cloud and mesoscale models range from simple one-moment to multimoment, multiclass to explicit bin schemes. This study details the benefits of adding a fourth ice class (frozen drops/hail) to an already improved single-moment three-class ice (cloud ice, snow, graupel) bulk microphysics scheme developed for the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model. Besides the addition and modification of several hail processes from a bulk three-class hail scheme, further modifications were made to the three-ice processes, including allowing greater ice supersaturation and mitigating spurious evaporation/sublimation in the saturation adjustment scheme, allowing graupel/hail to transition to snow via vapor growth and hail to transition to graupel via riming, wet graupel to become hail, and the inclusion of a rain evaporation correction and vapor diffusivity factor. The improved three-ice snow/graupel size-mapping schemes were adjusted to be more stable at higher mixing ratios and to increase the aggregation effect for snow. A snow density mapping was also added. The new scheme was applied to an intense continental squall line and a moderate, loosely organized continental case using three different hail intercepts. Peak simulated reflectivities agree well with radar for both the intense and moderate cases and were superior to earlier three-ice versions when using a moderate and large intercept for hail, respectively. Simulated reflectivity distributions versus height were also improved versus radar in both cases compared to earlier three-ice versions. The bin-based rain evaporation correction affected the squall line more but overall the agreement among the reflectivity distributions was unchanged. The new scheme also improved the simulated surface rain-rate histograms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the influence of microscale turbulent clustering of cloud droplets on the radar reflectivity factor and proposes a new parameterization to account for it. A three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of particle-laden isotropic turbulence is performed to obtain turbulent clustering data. The clustering data are then used to calculate the power spectra of droplet number density fluctuations, which show a dependence on the Taylor microscale-based Reynolds number (Re λ) and the Stokes number (St). First, the Reynolds number dependency of the turbulent clustering influence is investigated for 127 < Re λ < 531. The spectra for this wide range of Re λ values reveal that Re λ = 204 is sufficiently large to be representative of the whole wavenumber range relevant for radar observations of atmospheric clouds. The authors then investigate the Stokes number dependency for Re λ = 204 and propose an empirical model for the turbulent clustering influence assuming power laws for the number density spectrum. For Stokes numbers less than 2, the proposed model can estimate the influence of turbulence on the spectrum with an RMS error less than 1 dB when calculated over the wavenumber range relevant for radar observations. For larger Stokes number droplets, the model estimate has larger errors, but the influence of turbulence is likely negligible in typical clouds. Applications of the proposed model to two idealized cloud observing scenarios reveal that microscale turbulent clustering can cause a significant error in estimating cloud droplet amounts from radar observations with microwave frequencies less than 13.8 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low levels of supercell forward flanks commonly exhibit distinct differential reflectivity ( ZDR) signatures, including the low- ZDR hail signature and the high- ZDR 'arc.' The ZDR arc has been previously associated with size sorting of raindrops in the presence of vertical wind shear; here this model is extended to include size sorting of hail. Idealized simulations of a supercell storm observed by the Norman, Oklahoma (KOUN), polarimetric radar on 1 June 2008 are performed using a multimoment bulk microphysics scheme, in which size sorting is allowed or disallowed for hydrometeor species. Several velocity-diameter relationships for the hail fall speed are considered, as well as fixed or variable bulk densities that span the graupel-to-hail spectrum. A T-matrix-based emulator is used to derive polarimetric fields from the hydrometeor state variables. Size sorting of hail is found to have a dominant impact on ZDR and can result in a ZDR arc from melting hail even when size sorting is disallowed in the rain field. The low- ZDR hail core only appears when size sorting is allowed for hail. The mean storm-relative wind in a deep layer is found to align closely with the gradient in mean mass diameter of both rain and hail, with a slight shift toward the storm-relative mean wind below the melting level in the case of rain. The best comparison with the observed 1 June 2008 supercell is obtained when both rain and hail are allowed to sort, and the bulk density and associated fall-speed curve for hail are predicted by the model microphysics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The responsible mechanism for the formation of the enhanced-V infrared cloud-top feature observed above tropopause-penetrating thunderstorms is not well understood. A new method for the combination of volumetric radar reflectivity from individual radars into three-dimensional composites with high vertical resolution (1 km) is introduced and used to test various formation mechanisms proposed in the literature. For analysis, a set of 89 enhanced-V storms over the eastern continental United States are identified in the 10-yr period from 2001 to 2010 using geostationary satellite data. The background atmospheric state from each storm is determined using the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and radiosonde observations. In conjunction with the infrared temperature fields, analysis of the radar data in a coordinate relative to the location of the overshooting convective top and in altitudes relative to the tropopause suggests that above-anvil (stratospheric) cirrus clouds are the most likely mechanism for the formation of the enhanced V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to combine the short-term skill of radar nowcasting and the long-term skill of numerical models, successive 15-min rainfall accumulations obtained from the U.S. national radar composites and predicted by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are corrected by adjusting the phases of Fourier components in the spectral domain while keeping the amplitudes invariant. The phase information is first obtained by decomposing the radar and model fields into Fourier space. Then, to correct the model outputs, a new set of Fourier components is constructed using the phases from the radar image and amplitudes from the model image. The corrected model image can be obtained by inverse transformation of the new set of Fourier components. Scales of wavelengths starting from 50 to 500 km are playing a crucial role in correcting the positional and intensity errors of continental-scale precipitating systems predicted by the WRF model, while scales greater than 500 km are contributing very little, which is negligible. The model errors are characterized in terms of phase and power. Compared to power/amplitude correction, phase correction plays a major role in eliminating the positional and intensity errors. Scales that are responsible for the errors or not predicted by the model have a decorrelation time of about 2 h in both the zonal and meridional directions. The higher critical success index (CSI) and smaller RMS error values of the radar-extrapolated and phase-corrected fields compared with the WRF model-predicted fields indicate that the extrapolated phase information can be used to correct the model outputs up to a lead time of about 4 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne Doppler radar documented a variety of convective-scale structures within the inner-core rainbands of Hurricane Rita (2005). As predicted by past studies, wind shear determined azimuthal variations in the convection. All convective-scale circulations had radial inflow at low levels, upward motion, and outflow in the midtroposphere. Convective cells at smaller radii contained a low-level tangential jet determined largely by tangential acceleration due to angular momentum conservation ( uυ/ r term), while cells at larger radii contained a low-level and/or midlevel jet determined jointly by the uυ/ r and vertical advection terms. The outflow was at a higher (lower) altitude for the outer (inner) cells. Radial variations in the convective cells are attributable to differences in buoyancy and vertical shear of the radial wind (∂ u/∂ z). More buoyant updrafts at larger radii enhance vertical advection of υ, creating local tangential jets at midlevels. At smaller radii the stronger low-level radial inflow contributes to a greater ∂ u/∂ z, confining convectively generated jets to low levels. The low-level tangential jet and convectively generated pressure gradients produce outward-pointing supergradient acceleration that decelerates the boundary layer inflow. Consequently, this supergradient flow will enhance convergence and convection at the radius of inner rainband cells, increasing the likelihood of secondary eyewall formation. It is hypothesized that a critical zone for secondary eyewall formation exists where sufficiently high ∂ u/∂ z consistently constrains the altitudes of convectively generated supergradient flow so that convection in this radial zone leads to a newly developed eyewall. Once an incipient secondary eyewall forms at a certain radius, subsidence occurring along its inner edge separates it from the primary eyewall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retrieving atmospheric refractivity profiles from the sea surface backscattered radar clutter is known as the refractivity-from-clutter (RFC) technique. Because the relationship between refractivity and radar sea clutter is clearly nonlinear and ill posed, it is difficult to get analytical solutions according to current theories. Previous works treat this problem as a model parameter estimation issue and some optimization algorithms are selected to get approximate solutions. Two main factors that limit the accuracy of the estimation are that 1) the refractive environments are described by using some idealized refractivity parameter models that cannot describe the exact information of the refractivity profile, and 2) accurate modeling of the sea surface radar cross section (RCS) is very difficult. Rather than estimating a few model parameters, this paper puts forward possibilities of using the variational adjoint approach to jointly retrieve the every-height refractivity values and sea surface RCS using radar clutter data. The derivation of the adjoint model is accomplished by an analytical transformation of the parabolic equation (PE) in the continuous domain. Numerical simulations including range-independent and range-dependent RCS cases are presented to demonstrate the ability of this method for RFC estimations. Making use of the refractivity retrievals, propagation loss predictions are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years of data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission satellite's Precipitation Radar (TRMM PR) show the vertical structure of tropical cyclone rainbands. Radar-echo statistics show that rainbands have a two-layered structure, with distinct modes separated by the melting layer. The ice layer is a combination of particles imported from the eyewall and ice left aloft as convective cells collapse. This layering is most pronounced in the inner region of the storm, and the layering is enhanced by storm strength. The inner-region rainbands are vertically confined by outflow from the eyewall but nevertheless are a combination of strong embedded convective cells and robust stratiform precipitation, both of which become more pronounced in stronger cyclones. Changes in rainband coverage, vertical structure, and the amount of active convection indicate a change in the nature of rainbands between the regions inward and outward of a radius of approximately 200 km. Beyond this radius, rainbands consist of more sparsely distributed precipitation that is more convective in nature than that of the inner-region rainbands, and the outer-region rainband structures are relatively insensitive to changes in storm intensity. The rainbands in both inner and outer regions are organized with respect to the environmental wind shear vector. The right-of-shear quadrants contain newer convection while in the left-of-shear quadrants the radar echoes are predominantly stratiform. This asymmetric distribution of rainband structures strengthens with environmental wind shear. Cool sea surfaces discourage rainband convection uniformly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rain 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical analysis of the vertical structure of radar echoes in the eyewalls of tropical cyclones, shown by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR), shows that the eyewall contains high reflectivities and high echo tops, with deeper and more intense but highly intermittent echo perturbations superimposed on the basic structure. The overall echo strength, height of echo top, and presence of intense echo perturbations all increase with vortex strength. Intense echo perturbations decrease in frequency with low sea surface temperatures. When the PR data are normalized by the amount of radar echo in each sample and examined quadrant by quadrant relative to the direction of the environmental shear, the nature of convective processes in different parts of the eyewall becomes apparent. The normalized statistics of the echo intensity, brightband structure, and maximum echo-top height show that processes generating convective precipitation are generally favored in the downshear-right region of the eyewall, while the nonnormalized statistics indicate that the vertical wind shear determines the placement of precipitation particles downwind of the generation zone such that the precipitation maximum occurs about one quadrant downwind of the convective generation zone. When the track speed exceeds the magnitude of the shear vector, this pattern modifies such that the asymmetry rotates one quadrant to the right. The statistics, moreover, indicate that vertical wind shear is the factor determining the placement of precipitation particles around the storm, while other factors determine the location, intensity, and means of their generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A global study of the vertical structures of the clouds of tropical mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) has been carried out with data from the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar. Tropical MCSs are found to be dominated by cloud-top heights greater than 10 km. Secondary cloud layers sometimes occur in MCSs, but outside their primary raining cores. The secondary layers have tops at 6--8 and 1--3 km. High-topped clouds extend outward from raining cores of MCSs to form anvil clouds. Closest to the raining cores, the anvils tend to have broader distributions of reflectivity at all levels, with the modal values at higher reflectivity in their lower levels. Portions of anvil clouds far away from the raining core are thin and have narrow frequency distributions of reflectivity at all levels with overall weaker values. This difference likely reflects ice particle fallout and therefore cloud age. Reflectivity histograms of MCS anvil clouds vary little across the tropics, except that (i) in continental MCS anvils, broader distributions of reflectivity occur at the uppermost levels in the portions closest to active raining areas; (ii) the frequency of occurrence of stronger reflectivity in the upper part of anvils decreases faster with increasing distance in continental MCSs; and (iii) narrower-peaked ridges are prominent in reflectivity histograms of thick anvil clouds close to the raining areas of connected MCSs (superclusters). These global results are consistent with observations at ground sites and aircraft data. They present a comprehensive test dataset for models aiming to simulate process-based upper-level cloud structure around the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With radar measurements and temporally high-resolution surface observations, this study investigates surface fluctuations associated with tropical cyclone rainbands (TCRs) observed in the vicinity of Taiwan during 2000--08. A total of 263 TCRs identified from 37 typhoon events during the study period were analyzed to show the mean and common nature of perturbations of various meteorological variables associated with the passage of TCRs. The main patterns of surface thermodynamic fluctuations, as revealed from the composite analysis of all identified TCRs, include a persistent decrease in temperature, dewpoint temperature, and equivalent potential temperature θθe from the outer to inner edge of the rainband. A wavelike variation of pressure perturbations associated with the rainband was evident, with a minimum coincident with the outer edge and a maximum located inside the inner edge. The kinematics of the rainband was characterized by an obvious decrease in cross-band wind component, relatively minor variations in along-band wind component, and the wind veering. Quantitative analyses indicate that the majority of the TCRs (~80%%--90%%) exhibited variations in surface temperature, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction less than 2°°C, 1.5 mb, 5 m s−−1, and 20°°, respectively. However, a clear trend of the magnitude of TCR thermodynamic fluctuations increasing with the radial distance from the tropical cyclone center was observed. The TCRs identified in this study were also classified into the outer and inner rainbands, which are distinguished by a radial distance of 3 times the radius of maximum wind. The composite and magnitude analyses of their surface fluctuations indicate that the outer rainbands had a higher potential than the inner rainbands to reduce the near-surface θθe values. This observed characteristic is likely related to more pronounced evaporative cooling taking place in drier subcloud regions and the downward transport of low- θθe air aloft by more vigorous convective downdrafts for the outer rainband. Fundamentally different features of surface pressure fluctuations and mean frictional vertical velocity and relative vorticity between the outer and inner rainbands were also documented. These results reflect a possibly different origin. Nevertheless, there was no dramatic difference in the pattern of kinematic fluctuations between the outer and inner rainbands, and their mean magnitudes were also found to be statistically identical, which suggests that there is not an entirely clear distinction of surface characteristics for these two types of rainbands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The charge distributions in a thundercloud play an important role in the initiation and propagation of lightning discharges. To further understand the effects of charge distributions on lightning discharge, the authors conducted a very high-frequency (VHF) lightning observation campaign during the 2006/07 monsoon in Darwin, Australia, using a VHF broadband digital interferometer (DITF). A C-band polarimetric weather radar to estimate the precipitation profiles such as hydrometeor classification was operated by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) Research Centre. Cloud-to-ground (CG) and intracloud (IC) flashes were initiated from the outer and the inner parts of the upper side of the graupel regions, respectively. In the cases of CG flashes, the negative leaders travel first about 10 km horizontally through positive charge regions and then begin to bend toward the ground when they reach the edge of the positive charge regions where there is no graupel region underneath. In contrast, in the cases of the IC flashes the negatively charged graupel regions block the downward developments of negative leaders. It is noted that positive charge regions could facilitate the extension of the horizontal negative leader. These results may suggest that lightning flash types are closely dependent on their initiation locations and the surrounding charge distributions. The experimental results are consistent with other previous observation results and charge model simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-eddy simulations of warm, trade wind cumulus clouds are conducted for a range of aerosol conditions with a focus on precipitating clouds. Individual clouds are tracked over the course of their lifetimes. Precipitation rate decreases progressively as aerosol increases. For larger, precipitating clouds, the polluted clouds have longer lifetimes because of precipitation suppression. For clean aerosol conditions, there is good agreement between the average model precipitation rate and that calculated based on observed radar reflectivity Z and precipitation rate R relationships. Precipitation rate can be expressed as a power-law function of liquid water path (LWP) and Nd, to reasonable accuracy. The respective powers for LWP and Nd are of similar magnitude compared to those based on observational studies of stratocumulus clouds. The time-integrated precipitation rate represented by a power-law function of LWP, Nd, and cloud lifetime is much more reliably predicted than is R expressed in terms of LWP and Nd alone. The precipitation susceptibility ( So == −− dln R/ dln Nd) that quantifies the sensitivity of precipitation to changes in Nd depends strongly on LWP and exhibits nonmonotonic behavior with a maximum at intermediate LWP values. The relationship between So and precipitation efficiency is explored and the importance of including dependence on Nd in the latter is highlighted. The results provide trade cumulus cloud population statistics, as well as relationships between microphysical/macrophysical properties and precipitation, that are amenable for use in larger-scale models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatially variable advection-correction/analysis procedure introduced in Part I is tested using analytical reflectivity blobs embedded in a solid-body vortex, and Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) data of a tornadic supercell thunderstorm that passed over central Oklahoma on 8 May 2003. In the TDWR tests, plan position indicator (PPI) data at two volume scan times are input to the advection-correction procedure, with PPI data from a third scan time, intermediate between the two input times, that is used to validate the results. The procedure yields analyzed reflectivity fields with lower root-mean-square errors and higher correlation coefficients than those reflectivity fields that were advection corrected with any constant advection speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that asymmetries in hurricanes, such as spiral rainbands, polygonal eyewalls, and mesovortices, have long been observed in radar and satellite imagery, many aspects of their origin, space--time structure, and dynamics still remain unsolved, particularly their role on the vortex intensification. The underlying inner-core dynamics need to be better understood to improve the science of hurricane intensity forecasting. To fill this gap, a simple 2D barotropic ''dry'' model is used to perform two experiments starting respectively with a monopole and a ring of enhanced vorticity to mimic hurricane-like vortices during incipient and mature stages of development. The empirical normal mode (ENM) technique, together with the Eliassen--Palm (EP) flux calculations, are used to isolate wave modes from the model datasets to investigate their space--time structure, kinematics, and the impact on the changes in the structure and intensity of the simulated hurricane-like vortices. From the ENM diagnostics, it is shown in the first experiment how an incipient storm described by a vortex monopole intensifies by ''inviscid damping'' of a ''discrete-like'' vortex Rossby wave (VRW) or quasi mode. The critical radius, the structure, and the propagating properties of the quasi mode are found to be consistent with predictions of the linear eigenmode analysis of small perturbations. In the second experiment, the fastest growing wavenumber-4 unstable VRW modes of a vortex ring reminiscent of a mature hurricane are extracted, and their relation with the polygonal eyewalls, mesovortices, and the asymmetric eyewall contraction are established in consistency with results previously obtained from other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar data--based analysis products, such as accumulated rainfall maps, dual-Doppler wind syntheses, and thermodynamic retrievals, are prone to substantial error if the temporal sampling interval is too coarse. Techniques to mitigate these errors typically make use of advection-correction procedures (space-to-time conversions) in which the analyzed radial velocity or reflectivity field is idealized as a pattern of unchanging form that translates horizontally at constant speed. The present study is concerned with an advection-correction procedure for the reflectivity field in which the pattern-advection components vary spatially. The analysis is phrased as a variational problem in which errors in the frozen-turbulence constraint are minimized subject to smoothness constraints. The Euler--Lagrange equations for this problem are derived and a solution is proposed in which the trajectories, pattern-advection fields, and reflectivity field are analyzed simultaneously using a combined analytical and numerical procedure. The potential for solution nonuniqueness is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical radar theory only considers incoherent backscatter from precipitation. Can precipitation generate coherent scatter as well? Until now, the accepted answer has been no, because hydrometeors are distributed sparsely in space (relative to radar wavelength) so that the continuum assumption used to explain coherent scatter in clear air and clouds does not hold. In this work, a theory for a different mechanism is presented. The apparent existence of the proposed mechanism is then illustrated in both rain and snow. A new power spectrum Z( f ), the Fourier transform of the time series of the radar backscattered reflectivities, reveals statistically significant frequencies f of periodic components that cannot be ascribed to incoherent scatter. It is shown that removing those significant fs from Z( f ) at lower frequencies greatly reduces the temporal coherency. These lower frequencies, then, are associated with the increased temporal coherency. It is also shown that these fs are also directly linked to the Doppler spectral peaks through integer multiples of one-half the radar wavelength, characteristic of Bragg scatter. Thus, the enhanced temporal coherency is directly related to the presence of coherent scatter in agreement with theory. Moreover, the normalized backscattered power spectrum Z( f ) permits the estimation of the fractional coherent power contribution to the total power, even for an incoherent radar. Analyses of approximately 26 000 one-second Z( f ) in both rain and snow reveal that the coherent scatter is pervasive in these data. These findings present a challenge to the usual assumption that the scatter of radar waves from precipitation is always incoherent and to interpretations of backscattered power based on this assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a simplified UHF-band backscattering parameterization for individual melting snowflakes is proposed. This parameterization is a function of the density, shape, and melted fraction, and is used here in a brightband bulk modeling study. A 1D bulk model is developed where aggregation and breakup are neglected. Model results are in good agreement with detailed bin-model results and simulate the radar brightband observations well. It is shown the model can be seen as an observation operator that could be introduced into a data assimilation scheme to extract information contained in the radar data measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability is likely one of the most important sources of clear-air turbulence in the lower atmosphere. It produces billows, which mix and transport heat and materials vertically in the stably stratified atmosphere. Billows can also dissipate energy; therefore they can affect the larger-scale dynamics. While only a few direct observations have been reported in the tropopause region, in this work the authors report very detailed observations of billow structures around 16-km altitude, in the upper part of the jet stream. Observations were made with very high frequency (VHF)-band mid- and upper-atmosphere (MU) radar (Shigaraki, Japan; 34.85°N, 136.10°E) whose height resolution was improved with a range-imaging technique. KH billow structures were observed for at least 2 h and were found to have horizontal wavelengths of about 5.3 km and vertical extents between 0.5 and 1.0 km. Analysis of wind and temperature profiles measured by radiosondes launched from nearby meteorological stations indicated the presence of nearly monochromatic disturbances, likely due to a dominant inertia–gravity wave (IGW) superimposed on the background wind field. The presence of the IGW was also confirmed by analysis of wind profiles measured by the MU radar just before the KH billows were detected by the observations in range-imaging mode. The IGW, with vertical and horizontal wavelengths of about 3.5 and 600 km, respectively, may have been a direct radiation from the jet stream, as suggested by recent works, and likely played a major role in the onset of the observed KH instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent study, Rozoff et al. proposed a possible mechanism to explain the formation and maintenance of the weak-echo annulus (or moat) outside of the primary eyewall of a tropical cyclone observed in radar images. By this mechanism, the moat is determined to be a region of the strain-dominated flow outside of the radius of maximum wind in which essentially all fields are filamented and deep convection is hypothesized to be highly distorted and even suppressed. This strain-dominated region is defined as the rapid filamentation zone wherein the filamentation time is shorter than the overturning time of deep convection. An attempt has been made in this study to test the hypothesis in a full-physics tropical cyclone model under idealized conditions and to extend the concept to the study of the inner-core dynamics of tropical cyclones. The foci of this paper are the evolution of the rapid filamentation zone during the storm intensification, the potential roles of rapid filamentation in the organization of inner spiral rainbands, and the damping of high azimuthal wavenumber asymmetries in the tropical cyclone inner core. The presented results show that instead of suppressing deep convection, the strain flow in the rapid filamentation zone outside the elevated potential vorticity core provides a favorable environment for the organized inner spiral rainbands, which generally have time scales of several hours, much longer than the typical overturning time scale of individual convective clouds. Although the moat in the simulated tropical cyclone is located in the rapid filamentation zone, it is mainly controlled by the subsidence associated with the overturning flow from eyewall convection and downdrafts from the anvil stratiform precipitation outside of the eyewall. It is thus suggested that rapid filamentation is likely to play a secondary role in the formation of the moat in tropical cyclones. Although the deformation field is determined primarily by the structure of the tropical cyclone, it can have a considerable effect on the evolution of the storm. Because of strong straining deformation, asymmetries with azimuthal wavenumber >4 are found to be damped effectively in the rapid filamentation zone. The filamentation time thus provides a quantitative measure of the stabilization and axisymmetrization of high-wavenumber asymmetries in the inner core by shearing deformation and filamentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of analyzing radar data is developed and applied to determine whether the X-band radar reflectivity evolution of clouds observed during summertime on the northeast Florida coast during the Small Cumulus Microphysics Study (SCMS) shows distinct differences in precipitation development that can be associated with the clouds’ maritime or continental characteristics. For this study, the entire National Center for Atmospheric Research CP2 radar dataset from SCMS was examined, and 38 clouds were used. For these clouds the evolution in X-band radar reflectivity, from the clouds’ earliest detection through precipitation, was clearly documented and met specific requirements concerning the clouds’ location relative to the coastline and direction of movement. Since cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and giant and ultragiant nuclei (GN) measurements were not available for the specific clouds used in this study, proxies were used to partition the clouds into four groups based on the cloud location and direction of movement. Specifically, it was assumed that clouds forming over the ocean during onshore flow had maritime characteristics (group 1: low CCN, high GN), clouds forming over land during onshore flow would have modified maritime characteristics (group 2: high CCN, high GN), clouds forming over land during offshore flow would have continental characteristics (group 3: high CCN, low GN), and clouds forming over the ocean during offshore flow would have modified continental characteristics (group 4: high CCN, high GN). These assumptions are based on past measurements presented by Sax and Hudson. Then, these populations were statistically compared using the nonparametric multiresponse permutation procedure developed by Mielke et al. A comparison of groups 1 and 2 provided a test of the role of CCN concentrations in precipitation development in these cloud populations. A comparison of groups 3 and 4 provided a test of the role of GN concentrations in precipitation development in these cloud populations. The two cloud populations that were disjoint at a statistically significant level were groups 1 and 2. For these groups, the analysis showed that the median characteristic total water content of the truly maritime clouds (group 1) was about half that of the modified maritime clouds (group 2) at the time of precipitation formation. The characteristic time to precipitation formation was about 60% smaller for the truly maritime clouds. Thus, the characteristic reflectivity threshold for precipitation development was reached at a much lower altitude above cloud base in a much faster time in the truly maritime clouds. This result supports the conclusions of Hudson and Yum that precipitation development in the SCMS clouds was primarily controlled by CCN concentrations rather than GN concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shortwave radiative transfer depends on the cloud field geometry as viewed from the direction of the sun. To date, the radiation schemes of large-scale models only consider a zenith view of the cloud field, and the apparent change in the cloud geometry with decreasing solar zenith angle is neglected. A simple extension to an existing cloud overlap scheme is suggested to account for this for the first time. It is based on the assumption that at low sun angles, the overlap between cloud elements is random for an unscattered photon. Using cloud scenes derived from radar retrievals at two European sites, it is shown that the increase of the apparent cloud cover with a descending sun is reproduced very well with the new scheme. Associated with this, there is a marked reduction in the mean radiative biases averaged across all solar zenith angles with respect to benchmark calculations. The scheme is implemented into the ECMWF global forecast model using imposed sea surface temperatures, and while the impact on the radiative statistics is significant, the feedback on the large-scale dynamics is minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a framework for comparing hydrometeor and vertical velocity fields from mesoscale model simulations of tropical cyclones with observations of these fields from a variety of platforms. The framework is based on the Yuter and Houze constant frequency by altitude diagram (CFAD) technique, along with a new hurricane partitioning technique, to compare the statistics of vertical motion and reflectivity fields and hydrometeor concentrations from two datasets: one consisting of airborne radar retrievals and microphysical probe measurements collected from tropical cyclone aircraft flights over many years, and another consisting of cloud-scale (1.67-km grid length) tropical cyclone simulations using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). Such comparisons of the microphysics fields can identify biases in the simulations that may lead to an identification of deficiencies in the modeling system, such as the formulation of various physical parameterization schemes used in the model. Improvements in these schemes may potentially lead to better forecasts of tropical cyclone intensity and rainfall. In Part I of this study, the evaluation framework is demonstrated by comparing the radar retrievals and probe measurements to MM5 simulations of Hurricanes Bonnie (1998) and Floyd (1999). Comparisons of the statistics from the two datasets show that the model reproduces many of the gross features seen in the observations, though notable differences are evident. The general distribution of vertical motion is similar between the observations and simulations, with the strongest up- and downdrafts making up a small percentage of the overall population in both datasets, but the magnitudes of vertical motion are weaker in the simulations. The model-derived reflectivities are much higher than observed, and correlations between vertical motion and hydrometeor concentration and reflectivity show a much stronger relationship in the model than what is observed. Possible errors in the data processing are discussed as potential sources of differences between the observed and simulated datasets in Part I. In Part II, attention will be focused on using the evaluation framework to investigate the role that different model configurations (i.e., different resolutions and physical parameterizations) play in producing different microphysics fields in the simulation of Hurricane Bonnie. The microphysical and planetary boundary layer parameterization schemes, as well as higher horizontal and vertical resolutions, will be tested in the simulation to identify the extent to which changes in these schemes are reflected in improvements of the statistical comparisons with the observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense vortical circulations, often organized in counterrotating vortex pairs, were detected in midcontinental cumulus congestus over southeast Wyoming in July 2003. The sampled clouds developed in dry environments and at cold temperatures, and were a few kilometers in depth and width. Observations were obtained with the Wyoming Cloud Radar from aboard the Wyoming King Air research aircraft. Dual-Doppler analyses of the data yielded high-resolution (30–45 m) depictions of the horizontal components of air motions across vigorously growing clouds. The vortices found in the horizontal cross sections are interpreted as components of the toroidal circulations in thermals when those are tilted because of the effect of ambient cross flow. This configuration also leads to a partial stabilization of the vertical trajectory of the updraft, by opposing the drag by the ambient wind. Additionally, dry air intrusions were seen to accompany these features when the vortices developed near the cloud outer boundaries; recirculation of hydrometeors occurred when the vortices were adjacent to in-cloud downdrafts. These features are also evident in the radar reflectivity patterns. In general, gradients of velocities and vorticity values in horizontal planes are comparable to those found in vertical planes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulations of a mesoscale region around Kwajalein Island during the Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX) are performed. Using observed winds along with surface and large-scale thermodynamic forcings, the model tracks the observed mean thermodynamic soundings without thermodynamic nudging during 52-day simulations spanning the whole experiment time period, 24 July–14 September 1999. Detailed comparisons of the results with cloud and precipitation observations, including radar reflectivities from the Kwajalein ground validation radar and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud amounts and radiative fluxes, reveal the biases and sensitivities of the model’s simulated clouds. The amount and optical depth of high cloud are underpredicted by the model during less rainy periods, leading to excessive outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and insufficient albedo. The simulated radar reflectivities tend to be excessive, especially in the upper troposphere, suggesting that simulated high clouds are precipitating large hydrometeors too efficiently. Occasionally, large-scale advective forcing errors also seem to contribute to upper-level cloud and relative humidity biases. An extensive suite of sensitivity studies to different microphysical and radiative parameterizations is performed, with surprisingly little impact on the results in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]