Validation of polarimetric methods for attenuation correction at C band

Polarimetric methods for attenuation correction of radar reflectivity Z and differential reflectivity ZDR utilize measurements of differential phase ΦDP which is immune to attenuation (Bringi and Chandrasekar 2001). Simplified versions of the attenuation correction techniques assume that the coefficients of proportionality α and β between the Z and ZDR biases and ΦDP do not vary much. However, at C band these are highly variable in convective cells containing large raindrops and hail due to effects of resonance scattering (Carey et al. 2000, Ryzhkov et al. 2006). More sophisticated schemes for attenuation correction attempt to estimate the coefficients α and β in such “hotspot” cells using additional constraints. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the attenuation correction techniques with different degree of complexity using C-band data collected with the Environment Canada King radar in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC) Sidpol radar in Alabama, USA.