Radar Properties of Tropical Rain found from distrometer data at Costa Rica

Analyses are performed of drop size distributions (DSDs) for tropical rain collected at San José, Costa Rica, from October to December 2000. The sensor used was the Optical Spectro Pluviometer (OSP), developed at the CETP laboratories, in France. Rainrates measured with a raingauge are also compared with values simultaneously obtained from the OSP.

The DSD data are used to find seasonal average empirical relations between radar measurables and rainfall integral parameters (such as Z-R relationships). Comparisons are made with corresponding results from GATE, TOGA COARE, and Arecibo in Puerto Rico, as well as other mid-latitude continental locations. In addition, the time series of radar and DSD parameters are used to compare the structure of these storms with those found in other tropical locations.