The sub-cloud layer during rain events probed with ceilometer and disdrometer

Although their original purpose was to measure cloud base heights, lidar ceilometers have greatly expanded their applications, for example, in the description of aerosol layers in connection to air pollution problems or volcanic emissions. In this work we analyze data of a CL31 ceilometer during rain events at two sites in Chile, when simultaneous measurements of a rain disdrometer were available at the surface. We explore processes in the sub-cloud layer that can be visualized in the ceilometer reflectivity profiles, like the presence of a melting layer, the evaporation of weak rainshafts and the relationship between precipitation rate and reflectivity intensity.