Polarimetric Attenuation Correction in Heavy Rain at C Band

Abstract The ability of C-band polarimetric radar to account for strong attenuation/differential attenuation is demonstrated in two cases of heavy rain that occurred in the Chicago, Illinois, metropolitan area on 5 August 2008 and in central Oklahoma on 10 March 2009. The performance of the polarimetric attenuation correction scheme that separates relative contributions of “hot spots” (i.e., strong convective cells) and the rest of the storm to the path-integrated total and differential attenuation has been explored. It is shown that reliable attenuation correction is possible if the radar signal is attenuated by as much as 40 dB. Examination of the experimentally derived statistics of the ratios of specific attenuation Ah and differential attenuation ADP to specific differential phase KDP in hot spots is included in this study. It is shown that these ratios at C band are highly variable within the hot spots. Validation of the attenuation correction algorithm at C band has been performed through cross-che...

[1]  Gianfranco Vulpiani,et al.  Unusually High Differential Attenuation at C Band: Results from a Two-Year Analysis of the French Trappes Polarimetric Radar Data , 2009 .

[2]  Alexander V. Ryzhkov,et al.  Calibration Issues of Dual-Polarization Radar Measurements , 2005 .

[3]  A. Ryzhkov.  Polarimetric characteristics of melting hail at S and C bands , 2009 .

[4]  Alexander V. Ryzhkov.  Validation of polarimetric methods for attenuation correction at C band , 2007 .

[5]  V. Chandrasekar,et al.  Correcting C-band radar reflectivity and differential reflectivity data for rain attenuation: a self-consistent method with constraints , 2001, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[6]  D. Zrnic,et al.  Sensitivity Analysis of Polarimetric Variables at a 5-cm Wavelength in Rain , 2000 .

[7]  Walter Hitschfeld,et al.  ERRORS INHERENT IN THE RADAR MEASUREMENT OF RAINFALL AT ATTENUATING WAVELENGTHS , 1954 .

[8]  A. R. Jameson.  The effect of temperature on attenuation-correction schemes in rain using polarization propagation differential phase shift , 1992 .

[9]  J. W. F. Goddard,et al.  Technique for calibration of meteorological radars using differential phase , 1994 .

[10]  Jacques Testud,et al.  Validation of the Rain Profiling Algorithm “ZPHI” from the C-Band Polarimetric Weather Radar in Darwin , 2001 .

[11]  A. Ryzhkov.  The Impact of Beam Broadening on the Quality of Radar Polarimetric Data , 2007 .

[12]  Stéphane Laroche,et al.  Polarimetric Doppler weather radar: principles and applications , 2002 .

[13]  Frank S. Marzano,et al.  Comparison of Advanced Radar Polarimetric Techniques for Operational Attenuation Correction at C Band , 2008 .

[14]  A. Ryzhkov,et al.  Attenuation and Differential Attenuation of 5-cm-Wavelength Radiation in Melting Hail , 2011 .

[15]  V. Bringi,et al.  Rainfall Estimation from C-Band Polarimetric Radar in Okinawa, Japan: Comparisons with 2D-Video Disdrometer and 400 MHz Wind Profiler , 2005 .

[16]  Timothy J. Smyth,et al.  Correction for attenuation of radar reflectivity using polarization data , 1998 .

[17]  Lawrence D. Carey,et al.  Correcting Propagation Effects in C-Band Polarimetric Radar Observations of Tropical Convection Using Differential Propagation Phase , 2000 .

[18]  Alexander V. Ryzhkov,et al.  Radar polarimetry at S, C, and X bands: Comparative analysis and operational implications , 2005 .

[19]  V. Chandrasekar,et al.  An Examination of Propagation Effects in Rainfall on Radar Measurements at Microwave Frequencies , 1990 .

[20]  Jacques Testud,et al.  The Rain Profiling Algorithm Applied to Polarimetric Weather Radar , 2000 .

[21]  Guifu Zhang,et al.  Experiments in Rainfall Estimation with a Polarimetric Radar in a Subtropical Environment , 2002 .

[22]  Peter T. May,et al.  Sensitivity of 5-cm Wavelength Polarimetric Radar Variables to Raindrop Axial Ratio and Drop Size Distribution , 2001 .

[23]  Eugenio Gorgucci,et al.  Calibration of radars using polarimetric techniques , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[24]  Jonathan J. Gourley,et al.  Empirical Estimation of Attenuation from Differential Propagation Phase Measurements at C Band , 2007 .