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Title: Ensemble mean density and its connection to other microphysical properties of falling snow as observed in Southern Finland

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]
  1. Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland)
  2. Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland); Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki (Finland)
  3. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki (Finland); Aalto Univ. (Finland)
  4. Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland); Univ. of Bologna, Bologna (Italy)
  5. Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD (United States); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  6. NASA GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA (United States)
  7. National Space Science and Technology Center, Huntsville, AL (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

In this study measurements collected during winters 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 at the University of Helsinki measurement station in Hyytiala are used to investigate connections between ensemble mean snow density, particle fall velocity and parameters of the particle size distribution (PSD). The density of snow is derived from measurements of particle fall velocity and PSD, provided by a particle video imager, and weighing gauge measurements of precipitation rate. Validity of the retrieved density values is checked against snow depth measurements. Here, a relation retrieved for the ensemble mean snow density and median volume diameter is in general agreement with previous studies, but it is observed to vary significantly from one winter to the other. From these observations, characteristic mass–dimensional relations of snow are retrieved. For snow rates more than 0.2 mm h-1, a correlation between the intercept parameter of normalized gamma PSD and median volume diameter was observed.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland). Dept. of Physics
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
263333; 272041
OSTI ID:
1375416
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online), Vol. 9, Issue 9; ISSN 1867-8548
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 41 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's scientific achievements and societal contributions: reviewing four years of advanced rain and snow observations
  • Skofronick‐Jackson, Gail; Kirschbaum, Dalia; Petersen, Walter
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 144, Issue S1 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3313
journal November 2018
European In-Situ Snow Measurements: Practices and Purposes journal June 2018
Snowfall retrieval at X, Ka and W bands: consistency of backscattering and microphysical properties using BAECC ground-based measurements journal January 2018
Dual-wavelength radar technique development for snow rate estimation: a case study from GCPEx journal January 2019
The importance of particle size distribution and internal structure for triple-frequency radar retrievals of the morphology of snow journal January 2019
Snowfall retrieval at X, Ka and W band: consistency of backscattering and microphysical properties using BAECC ground-based measurements journal January 2018
Towards the connection between snow microphysics and melting layer: insights from multifrequency and dual-polarization radar observations during BAECC journal January 2020
Automated precipitation monitoring with the Thies disdrometer: biases and ways for improvement journal September 2020
Interactive comment on “Snowfall retrieval at X, Ka and W band: consistency of backscattering and microphysical properties using BAECC ground-based measurements” by Marta Tecla Falconi et al journal April 2018

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