Polarimetric radar microphysical retrievals in continental and tropical storms

 

Authors

Alexander Ryzhkov — NOAA - National Severe Storms Laboratory
Alexander Khain — The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Scott Mabry Ellis — National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Alain Protat — Australian Bureau of Meterology

Category

Microphysics (cloud, aerosol and/or precipitation)

Description

Novel polarimetric radar techniques for microphysical retrievals have been applied to estimate water content, mean volume diameter, and total number concentration of raindrops and ice particles in stratiform parts of continental and tropical MCSs. Polarimetric radar data have been collected by the WSR-88D radars in continental MCSs and land-falling hurricanes, NCAR S-Pol radar during the DYNAMO campaign, and C-POL radar in Darwin, Australia. Recently introduced methodologies for processing and displaying vertical profiles of polarimetic radar variables in a height vs time format such as quasi-vertical profiles (QVP), range-dependent QVP (RD-QVP), and columnar vertical profiles (CVP) have been used for analysis. Significant differences between the vertical profiles of retrieved parameters of size distributions in continental and tropical systems have been found with tropical storms characterized by much higher concentration of smaller ice particles. Substantial variability in the microphysical properties of hydrometeors within land-falling hurricanes was also reported with large contrasts between eyewall regions and outer rainbands. Various microphysical mechanisms possibly explaining the observed microphysical differences are discussed.