Examining polarimetric forward operators for use with numerical models

• Significant advancements have been made in storm-scale numerical simulations and multimoment microphysics schemes that model more microphysical processes more completely. • Polarimetric research-focused radars have been used for more than 15 years, and the amount of polarimetric weather radar data has expanded significantly over the past several years as the WSR-88D network was upgraded to dual polarization. • Comparing radar observations with results from numerical models can be difficult since the radar does not measure the same properties that numerical models analyze or predict. • A forward operator can be used to represent numerical model output in commonly used radar quantities, allowing one to compare observations with simulations more readily. • Examples of polarimetric forward operators: Jung et al. (2010); Ryzhkov et al. (2011); Augros et al. (2015); Tatarevic and Kollias (2015, personal communication). Exploring Polarimetric Forward Operators for Use with Numerical Models