| Download | - View final version: Triple-frequency radar retrieval of microphysical properties of snow (PDF, 6.0 MiB)
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| DOI | Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7243-2021 |
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| Author | Search for: Mroz, KamilORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3151-1300; Search for: Battaglia, Alessandro; Search for: Nguyen, Cuong1; Search for: Heymsfield, AndrewORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4107-7533; Search for: Protat, AlainORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-874X; Search for: Wolde, Mengistu1 |
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| Affiliation | - National Research Council of Canada. Aerospace
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| Funder | Search for: National Centre for Earth Observation; Search for: European Space Agency; Search for: Idaho Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy |
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| Format | Text, Article |
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| Abstract | An algorithm based on triple-frequency (X, Ka, W) radar measurements that retrieves the size, water content and degree of riming of ice clouds is presented. This study exploits the potential of multi-frequency radar measurements to provide information on bulk snow density that should underpin better estimates of the snow characteristic size and content within the radar volume. The algorithm is based on Bayes' rule with riming parameterised by the “fill-in” model. The radar reflectivities are simulated with a range of scattering models corresponding to realistic snowflake shapes. The algorithm is tested on multi-frequency radar data collected during the ESA-funded Radar Snow Experiment For Future Precipitation Mission. During this campaign, in situ microphysical probes were mounted on the same aeroplane as the radars. This nearly perfectly co-located dataset of the remote and in situ measurements gives an opportunity to derive a combined multi-instrument estimate of snow microphysical properties that is used for a rigorous validation of the radar retrieval. Results suggest that the triple-frequency retrieval performs well in estimating ice water content (IWC) and mean mass-weighted diameters obtaining root-mean-square errors of 0.13 and 0.15, respectively, for log ₁₀IWC and log ₁₀Dₘ. The retrieval of the degree of riming is more challenging, and only the algorithm that uses Doppler information obtains results that are highly correlated with the in situ data. |
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| Publication date | 2021-11-17 |
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| Publisher | European Geosciences Union
Copernicus Publications |
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| Licence | |
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| In | |
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| Language | English |
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| Peer reviewed | Yes |
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| Export citation | Export as RIS |
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| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
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| Record identifier | 213fffaa-67cf-40e8-949f-775f41613a16 |
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| Record created | 2022-11-10 |
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| Record modified | 2022-11-10 |
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