A Comparison of Radar Structures of Two Comma Head Cyclones Using Dual-Doppler Analysis

The Profiling of Winter Storms (PLOWS) field campaign during the winters of 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 focused on improving the understanding of dynamic and microphysical processes occurring inside winter cyclones in the middle latitudes. The Wyoming Cloud Radar (WCR), operating at a 3 mm wavelength (W-band), was installed on board the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft. Three antennas, pointing up, down and down-aft, measured reflectivity and radial velocity. The Mobile Alabama X-band (MAX) dual-polarization radar, operating at a 3 cm wavelength, performed RHI scans of the same cross-section the WCR profiled during flights.

Three separate techniques are used to document the mesoscale features of wave and frontal structures within the comma head region of the 15 and 22 February 2010 cyclones. The first incorporates radial velocity measurements from both the nadir and slanted beams of the WCR to conduct a dual-Doppler synthesis that details the flow structures within the cloud. Another technique uses velocity measurements from the WCR slant beam to depict isentropic surfaces and other notable structures at a very fine resolution. Lastly, RHI scans from the X-band radar are used to determine any additional structures that may be present within this region of the cyclone, and their relationship to radar signatures in dual-polarization features.