Use of two profilers during MCTEX for unambiguous identification of Bragg scattering and Rayleigh scattering
A 2835-MHz (10.6-cm wavelength) profiler and a 920-MHz (32.6-cm wavelength) profiler were collocated by the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory at Garden Point, Australia, in the Tiwi Islands during the Maritime Continent Thunderstorm Experiment (MCTEX) field campaign in November and December 1995. The two profilers were directed vertically and observed vertical velocities in the clear atmosphere and hydrometeor fall velocities in deep precipitating cloud systems. In the absence of Rayleigh scatterers, the profilers obtain backscattering from the refractive index irregularities created from atmospheric turbulence acting upon refractive index gradients. This kind of scattering is commonly referred to as Bragg scattering and is only weakly dependent on the radar wavelength provided the radar half-wavelength lies within the inertial subrange of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. In the presence of hydrometeors the profilers observe Rayleigh backscattering from hydrometeors much as weather radars do and this backscatter is very dependent upon radar wavelength, strongly favoring the shorter wavelength profiler resulting in a 20-dB enhancement of the ability of the 2835-MHz profiler to observe hydrometeors. This paper presents observations of equivalent reflectivity, Doppler velocity, and spectral width made by collocated profilers during MCTEX. Differential reflectivity is used to diagnose the type of echo observed by the profilers in the spectral moment data.
- Research Organization:
- NOAA/ERL Aeronomy Lab., Boulder, CO (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation (NSF); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- OSTI ID:
- 20001016
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 56, Issue 21; Other Information: PBD: 1 Nov 1999; ISSN 0022-4928
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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