Extended Abstract (2.0M)P11R.3
Verification of S-Polka Ka Band Radar/Radiometer LWC and RES Retrievals with GRIDS Retrievals and Aircraft Measurements and Comparison to GOES Icing Products for the WISP04 10-11 March Event
David Serke, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and G. Zhang, J. Vivekanandan, T. L. Schneider, P. Minnis, and M. Poellot
Recent studies have shown the usefulness of employing a two-channel radiometer and a single radar band to derive liquid water content (LWC) and radar-estimated size (RES) fields. This study demonstrates the utility of this super-cooled liquid water (SLW) detection method by validating the retrieval results from a case study with in situ and remotely-sensed data.
An array of instrumentation platforms were operating from February through early April during the Winter Icing Storms Project 2004 (WISP04) near Boulder, Colorado. A Ka-band radar system (S-Polka) with a colocated 2-channel radiometer was located 21 km southwest of the NOAA Ka-band radar on the GRound-based Icing Detection System (GRIDS) with its own colocated 2-channel radiometer. A research aircraft with an LWC probe was flown in the radar domain during periods of winter weather. Icing products derived from the Geostationary Earth-Orbiting Satellite - West (GOES-W), such as liquid water path (LWP), cloud phase, effective particle size and cloud top and base heights were also available.
The current study compares retrieved LWC and RES from the S-Polka and GRIDS platforms to the airborne in situ probe and to products derived from GOES for the 10-11th of March WISP04 winter icing event. This upslope-induced event produced significant SLW aloft, with little precipitation at the surface. Results indicate that the LWC and RES radar/radiometer retrievals compare favorably to each other and to the airborne probe data. GOES LWP values were within +/-20% of the GRIDS LWP values through the early stages of the event. GOES icing products did not compare well to the radar/radiometer and in situ data later in the event, due to the shallow nature of the upslope-induced clouds and the proximity in time to sunset. This paper will describe the study results in greater detail.
Poster Session 11R, microphysics of clouds and precipitation
Friday, 28 October 2005, 1:15 PM-3:00 PM, Alvarado F and Atria
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