Toward Improving Ice Water Content and Snow-Rate Retrievals from Radars. Part II: Results from Three Wavelength Radar–Collocated In Situ Measurements and CloudSat–GPM–TRMM Radar Data

• DOI: 10.1175/jamc-d-17-0164.1
• Publication Date: 2017-10-25T21:17:16Z
• Authors: Andrew Heymsfield; Aaron Bansemer; Norman B. Wood; Guosheng Liu; Simone Tanelli; Ousmane O. Sy; Michael Poellot; Chuntao Liu
• Keywords: cloud retrieval; 13. Climate action; ice particles; cloud microphysics; 01 natural sciences; conservation of mass; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Abstract Two methods for deriving relationships between the equivalent radar reflectivity factor Z e and snowfall rate S at three wavelengths are described. The first method uses collocations of in situ aircraft (microphysical observations) overflying (radar from two field programs to develop – relationships. In second method, measurements top melting layer (ML), radars on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), CloudSat satellites, related retrieved rainfall R base ML, assuming that mass flux through ML is constant. Retrievals likely be more reliable than because far fewer assumptions involved retrieval supporting ground-based validation data available. developed here mass-flux technique compared with those derived level 2 retrievals standard satellite products a number reported by others. It shown there substantial differences among them. promise improvements snowfall-rate satellite-based measurements.