Mesoscale Atmospheric Systems Radar meteorology (part 2) 10 March 2015 Heini Wernli Today‘s topics - Stratiform precipitation & the „bright band“ - Doppler radar ! wind measurements & fall speed - Polarimetric radar ! detailed microphysical information Weather Radars in Europe September 2013 202 weather radars: 184 have Doppler 48 have dual-polarization http://www.eumetnet.eu/opera Useful radar webpages " MeteoSwiss » www.meteoschweiz.ch " nowcasting of precipitation (ETH spinoff) » www.meteoradar.ch " tornadic phenomena around Switzerland » www.tordach.org/ch " European composite » www.meteox.com Stratiform precipitation and the “bright band” " " " " " vertical wind < ~ 1 m/s horizontal scale ~ 100 km stable stratification external lifting through, e.g., fronts, orography in polar regions and in midlatitudes in winter The bright band Circular symmetry implies a reflectivity field that is horizontally stratified. Close to the radar, the signal comes from a region where T>0°C (rain) Far away from the radar, the signal comes from a region where T<0°C (snow). The “bright band” indicates the region where snow flakes are melting. The bright band RHI scan shows a fairly uniform structure in the horizontal on scales of ≈100 km snow bright band rain The physics of the bright band As snowflakes fall into air warmer than 0°C, their radar reflectivity increases for several reasons: 1. The dielectric constant of water exceeds that of ice by about 5 dB 2. In its initial stage, melting produces distorted snowflakes with higher reflectivity compared to spherical drops of the same mass 3. Raindrops fall faster than snowflakes (6 ms-1 vs. 1.5 ms-1), which reduces their concentration in space. This dilution effect accounts in part for the decrease in reflectivity in the lower part of the melting layer 4. If large rain drops break up further reduction in reflectivity occurs Bright band in a convective situation? reflectivity Doppler velocity Doppler velocity " The echo of a moving particle from a pulse 1 has the phase Φ1 = Φ 0 + 2r1 2π λ " For the succeeding pulse 2 will, the particle will have moved thus the new phase for pulse 2 is Φ2 = Φ0 + 2r2 2π λ " From the distance the particle has moved in the meantime we can calculate its velocity along the radar beam: Δr r2 − r1 (Φ 2 − Φ1 )⋅ λ ⋅ PRF ΔΦ ⋅ λ ⋅ PRF v= = = = Δt 1 / PRF 4π 4π PPI of the Doppler velocity in westerly wind situation Doppler field of cyclonic circulation (tornado?) Doppler field of strong horizontal convergence Doppler velocity: Nyquist velocity " We run into trouble if the phase shift reaches ±π. The situation then is ambiguous and we cannot tell whether the particle moves towards or away from the radar. vmax πλ ⋅ PRF λ ⋅ PRF = = 4π 4 " vmax is the so-called Nyquist velocity. Together with the maximum range we can write c rmax = 2 ⋅ PRF λ ⋅c rmax ⋅ vmax = 8 Doppler velocity – aliasing (folding) " Aliasing happens where the radial velocity exceeds the Nyquist velocity (in amplitude). " The human eye can identify (and correct) such regions very well. Why Doppler and polarization? Dynamics and Microphysics of precipitation Precipitation formation is directly related to atmospheric motion. # Hydrometeors are displaced (advection plus sedimentation) # Doppler shift of radar waves Cloud and precipitation particles have different shape, phase, size, and falling behaviour # scattering properties # polarization Shape of falling raindrops Raindrops falling with their terminal velocity are oblate. a Drops can be described as rotational ellipsoids with the axis a and b Observations in a b a b Deq = 2.6 mm 3.4 mm 5.8 mm Deq = 7.4 mm 8.0 mm vertical wind tunnel Polarimetric Radar Observations " The polarization of an electromagnetic wave is defined by the orientation of the electrical field vector E " Conventional Doppler radars use horizontal linear polarization only Polarimetric Radar Observations " Dual polarization mode simultaneous H and V transmit and receive Rain Graupel Hail Dual-polarization measures ZHH Reflectivity ~ rain rate ZDR Differential reflectivity ZH - ZV ~ shape ~ orientation KDP specific differential propagation phase ~ ice / water content LDR Linear depolarisation ratio ZVH - ZH ~ shape ~ melting ρHV Correlation coefficient ~ shape ~ oscillation ~ wobbling ~ canting Differential Reflectivity (ZDR) Differential reflectivity is the ratio between horizontal and vertical reflectivity factor ZDR = 10 log⎛⎜ zzVH ⎞⎟ ⎝ ⎠ or ZDR = ZH − ZV unit dB H V using zH, zV in mm6 m3, or ZH, ZV in dBZ. " positive ZDR is caused by oblate particles. ZH ZV " ZDR depends on particle shape, orientation and falling behaviour. " Note: Polarimetric quantities are only available for rainfall rates above a certain value, since small raindrops are spherical. Differential Reflectivity (ZDR) Indication for oblate particles falling horizontally orientated Differential Reflectivity (ZDR) POLDIRAD at Waltenheim-sur-Zorn " ZDR can be used to identify insects and birds in clear air echoes Z " Rain: ZDR 0 – 5 dB " Insects ZDR 5 – 10 dB ZDR Linear Depolarization Ratio (LDR) The linear depolarization ratio LDR describes the ratio of cross-polar reflectivity to co-polar reflectivity ⎞ ⎟ LDR = 10 log⎛⎜ zzVH H ⎝ ⎠ or LDR = ZVH − ZH " using zVH, zH in mm6 m-3 or ZVH, ZH in dBZ. " LDR is caused by particles which are rotated to the polarization plane. " LDR is weighted by reflectivity. " LDR depends on the shape of the particles, their orientation and their falling behaviour. (unit dB) Linear Depolarization Ratio (LDR) Indication for oblate particles falling irregularly or canted Classification of Hydrometeors Forecasters want to see this and not that 14 10 8 6 4 2 R eflectivity (dBZ ) 0 12 Height (km) Height (km) 12 14 R eflectivity 10 8 6 4 2 40 55 60 8 6 4 2 14 H eig ht (k m) Height (km) D epolariz ation R atio 10 L D R (dB ) -‐35 -‐28 -‐19 -‐13 60 65 70 75 80 R ange (km) -‐3 -‐0.5 +0.5 4.5 R ange (km) R ang e (km) 12 Z D R (dB ) 60 65 70 75 80 60 65 70 75 80 14 D ifferential R eflectivity 12 10 8 6 4 2 Hydrometeor T ype S S S now G G raupel G H Hail HW Wet Hail HLW L arge Wet H ail r S mal R aindrops r R L arge R aindrops S H HW G HW H R HLW 60 65 70 75 80 R ange (km) Classification of Hydrometeors From observations and theoretical or practical considerations we know: Z (dBZ) ZDR (dB) KDP (°/km) ρHV(0) LDR (dB) Rain 10 – 55 0–5 0 – 10 ≈ 1.0 < -30 Ice crystals < 15 0–2 0 ≈ 0.99 < -30 Snow aggregates < 25 0–2 0 ≈ 0.99 < -30 Graupel up to 40 ≈0 ≈0 > 0.95 < 0.95 melting < -30 < -25 melting Hail up to 70 ≈0 ≈0 0.9 – 0.95 < 0.9 melting > -25 -25 – -15 melting Insects <5 5 – 10 ? 0.9 – 1.0 ? < -30 ? Birds <5 3–6 ? 0.9 – 1.0 ? < -30 ? Ground clutter any noisy noisy 1 stopped < 0.6 rotating antenna > -20 Classification of Hydrometeors Based on fuzzy logic (Vivekanandan et el., 1999) LDR Based on thresholds (Höller et al., 1994) Each manufacturer (researcher) has her/his own algorithm, display, hydrometeor classes, parameters to adjust Classification based on thresholds (Höller et al., 1994) Classification using new Monte Lema radar data 1840 UTC 9 June 2012 Master thesis Pascal Graf
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