Using doppler spectra to separate hydrometeor populations and analyze ice precipitation in multilayered mixed-phase clouds

Mahlon P. Rambukkange, Johannes Verlinde, Edwin W. Eloranta, Connor J. Flynn, Eugene E. Clothiaux

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Multimodality of cloud radar Doppler spectra is used to partition cloud particle phases and separate distinct ice populations in the radar sample volume, thereby facilitating the analysis of individual ice showers in multilayered mixed-phase clouds. A 35-GHz cloud radar located at Barrow, Alaska, during the Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment collected the Doppler spectra. Data from a pair of collocated depolarization lidars confirmed the presence of two liquid cloud layers reported in this letter. Both of these cloud layers were embedded in ice precipitation yet maintained their liquid. The spectral separation of the ice precipitation yielded two distinct ice populations: the ice initiated within the two liquid cloud layers and the ice precipitation formed in the higher cloud layers. The comparisons of ice fall velocity-versus-radar reflectivity relationships derived for distinct showers reveal that a single relationship does not properly represent the ice showers during this period.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5523891
Pages (from-to)108-112
Number of pages5
JournalIEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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