Seasonal Characteristics of Disdrometer-Observed Raindrop Size Distributions and Their Applications on Radar Calibration and Erosion Mechanism in a Semi-Arid Area of China

Raindrop size distributions (DSDs) are the microphysical characteristics of raindrop spectra. Rainfall characterization is important to: (1) provide information on extreme rate, thus, it has an impact on rainfall related hazard; (2) provide data for indirect observation, model and forecast; (3) calibrate and validate the parameters in radar reflectivity-rainfall intensity (Z-R) relationships (quantitative estimate precipitation, QPE) and the mechanism of precipitation erosivity. In this study, the one-year datasets of raindrop spectra were measured by an OTT Parsivel-2 Disdrometer placed in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, China. At the same time, four TE525MM Gauges were also used in the same location to check the disdrometer-measured rainfall data. The theoretical formula of raindrop kinetic energy-rainfall intensity (KE-R) relationships was derived based on the DSDs to characterize the impact of precipitation characteristics and environmental conditions on KE-R relationships in semi-arid areas. In addition, seasonal rainfall intensity curves observed by the disdrometer of the area with application to erosion were characterized and estimated. The results showed that after quality control (QC), the frequencies of raindrop spectra data in different seasons varied, and rainfalls with R within 0.5–5 mm/h accounted for the largest proportion of rainfalls in each season. The parameters in Z-R relationships (Z = aRb) were different for rainfall events of different seasons (a varies from 78.3–119.0, and b from 1.8–2.1), and the calculated KE-R relationships satisfied the form of power function KE = ARm, in which A and m are parameters derived from rainfall shape factor μ. The sensitivity analysis of parameter A with μ demonstrated the applicability of the KE-R formula to different precipitation processes in the Yulin area.

[1]  Matthias Steiner,et al.  Reflectivity, Rain Rate, and Kinetic Energy Flux Relationships Based on Raindrop Spectra , 2000 .

[2]  Sheng Chen,et al.  Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in the Monsoon Season Observed in Southern China , 2019, Remote. Sens..

[3]  Yansui Liu,et al.  Dynamic analysis of ecological environment combined with land cover and NDVI changes and implications for sustainable urban–rural development: The case of Mu Us Sandy Land, China , 2017 .

[4]  V. Ferro,et al.  Predicting rainfall erosivity by momentum and kinetic energy in Mediterranean environment , 2018 .

[5]  Baojun Chen,et al.  Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in the Meiyu Season Observed in Eastern China , 2013 .

[6]  S. Das,et al.  Raindrop size distribution of different cloud types over the Western Ghats using simultaneous measurements from Micro-Rain Radar and disdrometer , 2017 .

[7]  A. R. Jarrett,et al.  Evaluating bioretention hydrology and nutrient removal at three field sites in North Carolina , 2006 .

[8]  D. Blanchard.  RAINDROP SIZE-DISTRIBUTION IN HAWAIIAN RAINS , 1953 .

[9]  Chen Qian,et al.  Z-R Relationship from the Particle Size and Velocity (Parsivel) Optical Disdrometer and its Application in Estimating Areal Rainfall , 2008, 2008 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering.

[10]  Remko Uijlenhoet,et al.  A consistent rainfall parameterization based on the exponential raindrop size distribution , 1999 .

[11]  Yongheng Bi,et al.  Characteristics of summer and winter precipitation over northern China , 2017 .

[12]  C. Mannaerts,et al.  Rainfall kinetic energy-intensity and rainfall momentum-intensity relationships for Cape Verde , 2012 .

[13]  Clemens Simmer,et al.  PARSIVEL Snow Observations: A Critical Assessment , 2010 .

[14]  W. Randeu,et al.  Application of the 2D-video-distrometer for weather radar data inversion , 2000 .

[15]  Carlton W. Ulbrich,et al.  Rainfall Microphysics and Radar Properties: Analysis Methods for Drop Size Spectra , 1998 .

[16]  X. C. Liu,et al.  A comparison of rainfall measurements from multiple instruments , 2013 .

[17]  C. Ulbrich.  Natural Variations in the Analytical Form of the Raindrop Size Distribution , 1983 .

[18]  H. Sauvageot.  Rainfall measurement by radar: a review , 1994 .

[19]  J. S. Marshall,et al.  MEASUREMENT OF RAINFALL BY RADAR , 1947 .

[20]  S. Petan,et al.  The rainfall kinetic energy-intensity relationship for rainfall erosivity estimation in the Mediterranean part of Slovenia. , 2010 .

[21]  Carlton W. Ulbrich,et al.  Path- and Area-Integrated Rainfall Measurement by Microwave Attenuation in the 1–3 cm Band , 1977 .

[22]  J. Marshall,et al.  THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAINDROPS WITH SIZE , 1948 .

[23]  Ana P. Barros,et al.  Measurement uncertainty in rainfall kinetic energy and intensity relationships for soil erosion studies: An evaluation using PARSIVEL disdrometers in the Southern Appalachian Mountains , 2015 .

[24]  Balaji Kumar Seela,et al.  A study on raindrop size distribution variability in before and after landfall precipitations of tropical cyclones observed over southern India , 2017 .

[25]  Remko Uijlenhoet,et al.  Scaling of raindrop size distributions and classification of radar reflectivity–rain rate relations in intense Mediterranean precipitation , 2011 .

[26]  G. D. Bubenzer,et al.  An analysis of splash erosion mechanics. , 1980 .

[27]  K. Beard.  Terminal Velocity and Shape of Cloud and Precipitation Drops Aloft , 1976 .

[28]  James W. Wilson,et al.  Radar Measurement of Rainfall—A Summary , 1979 .

[29]  Guifu Zhang,et al.  The Shape–Slope Relation in Observed Gamma Raindrop Size Distributions: Statistical Error or Useful Information? , 2003 .

[30]  Balaji Kumar Seela,et al.  Raindrop Size Distribution Characteristics of Summer and Winter Season Rainfall Over North Taiwan , 2018, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

[31]  V. N. Bringi,et al.  Potential Use of Radar Differential Reflectivity Measurements at Orthogonal Polarizations for Measuring Precipitation , 1976 .

[32]  P. Kinnell,et al.  Rainfall Intensity-Kinetic Energy Relationships for Soil Loss Prediction1 , 1981 .

[33]  H. Sauvageot,et al.  Parametrization of drop size distribution with rain rate , 2007 .

[34]  W. H. Wischmeier,et al.  Predicting rainfall erosion losses : a guide to conservation planning , 1978 .

[35]  S. Rao,et al.  On the seasonal variability of raindrop size distribution and associated variations in reflectivity – Rainrate relations at Tirupati, a tropical station , 2016 .

[36]  Lei Wang,et al.  The dependence of precipitation types on surface elevation and meteorological conditions and its parameterization , 2014 .

[37]  David B. Wolff,et al.  Evaluation of the New Version of the Laser-Optical Disdrometer, OTT Parsivel2 , 2014 .

[38]  V. Ferro,et al.  Raindrop size distribution and terminal velocity for rainfall erosivity studies. A review , 2019, Journal of Hydrology.

[39]  A. Cerda,et al.  Characterizing rainfall erosivity by kinetic power - Median volume diameter relationship , 2018, CATENA.

[40]  P. M. Austin,et al.  Relation between Measured Radar Reflectivity and Surface Rainfall , 1987 .

[41]  A. Tsunekawa,et al.  Evaluation of kinetic energy and erosivity potential of simulated rainfall using Laser Precipitation Monitor , 2016 .

[42]  Hidde Leijnse,et al.  The impact of reflectivity correction and accounting for raindrop size distribution variability to improve precipitation estimation by weather radar for an extreme low-land mesoscale convective system , 2014 .

[43]  Lei Liu,et al.  Comparative measurement of rainfall with a precipitation micro-physical characteristics sensor, a 2D video disdrometer, an OTT PARSIVEL disdrometer, and a rain gauge , 2019, Atmospheric Research.

[44]  Xian Xiao,et al.  Raindrop Size Distributions and Rain Characteristics Observed by a PARSIVEL Disdrometer in Beijing, Northern China , 2019, Remote. Sens..

[45]  C. E. Carter,et al.  Raindrop Characteristics in South Central United States , 1974 .

[46]  Roland List,et al.  Collision, Coalescence and Breakup of Raindrops. Part I: Experimentally Established Coalescence Efficiencies and Fragment Size Distributions in Breakup , 1982 .

[47]  H. Yasuda,et al.  Characterization of rainfall generated by dripper‐type rainfall simulator using piezoelectric transducers and its impact on splash soil erosion , 2010 .

[48]  Robert A. Black,et al.  The Concept of “Normalized” Distribution to Describe Raindrop Spectra: A Tool for Cloud Physics and Cloud Remote Sensing , 2001 .

[49]  WSR-88 D Radar Rainfall Estimation : Capabilities , Limitations and Potential Improvements , 2009 .

[50]  M. Coutinho,et al.  Characterization of raindrop size distributions at the Vale Formoso Experimental Erosion Center , 1995 .

[51]  Alexis Berne,et al.  Correction of raindrop size distributions measured by Parsivel disdrometers, using a two-dimensional video disdrometer as a reference , 2014 .

[52]  Z. Yusop,et al.  The influence of rain intensity on raindrop diameter and the kinetics of tropical rainfall: case study of Skudai, Malaysia , 2016 .

[53]  Marzuki,et al.  Raindrop axis ratios, fall velocities and size distribution over Sumatra from 2D-Video Disdrometer measurement , 2013 .

[54]  Eugenio Gorgucci,et al.  Raindrop Size Distribution in Different Climatic Regimes from Disdrometer and Dual-Polarized Radar Analysis , 2003 .

[55]  A. Waldvogel,et al.  The N0 Jump of Raindrop Spectra , 1974 .

[56]  Ali Tokay,et al.  An Experimental Study of Small-Scale Variability of Raindrop Size Distribution , 2010 .