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Testing the Drop-Size Distribution-Based Separation of Stratiform and Convective Rain Using Radar and Disdrometer Data from a Mid-Latitude Coastal Region
- Source :
- Atmosphere, Vol 12, Iss 3, p 392 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Stratiform and convective rain are associated with different microphysical processes and generally produce drop-size distributions (DSDs) with different characteristics. Previous studies using data from (a) a tropical coastal location, (b) a mid-latitude continental location with semi-arid climate, and (c) a sub-tropical continental location, found that the two rain types could be separated in the NW–Dm space, where Dm is the mass-weighted mean diameter and NW is the normalized intercept parameter. In this paper, we investigate the same separation technique using data and observations from a mid-latitude coastal region. Three-minute DSDs from disdrometer measurements are used for the NW- versus Dm-based classification and are compared with simultaneous observations from an S-band polarimetric radar 38 km away from the disdrometer site. Specifically, RHI (range-height indicator) scans over the disdrometer were used for confirmation. Results show that there was no need to modify the separation criteria from previous studies. Three-minute DSDs from the same location were used as input to scattering calculations to derive retrieval equations for NW and Dm for the S-band radar using an improved technique and applied to the RHI scans to identify convective and stratiform rain regions. Two events are shown as illustrative examples.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 12030392 and 20734433
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Atmosphere
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.fd38d27b5f50441f80ad3d83f126414e
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030392