11B.5 Polarimetric signatures of ground clutter

Thursday, 9 August 2007: 12:00 AM
Meeting Room 2 (Cairns Convention Center)
Martin Hagen, DLR, Wessling, Germany

Polarimetric radar measurements have improved quantitative precipitation estimation especially for the derivation of precipitation amounts. Several weather services are planning therefore to upgrade their radars with polarimetric diversity capabilities. The quality of the rain rate estimation depends strongly on the quality of the polarimetric measurements themselves. Polarimetric variables can considerable be contaminated by the presence of ground clutter in the radar beam or its side lobes. Besides the application of an effective ground clutter filter to polarimetric radar data, it is also necessary to understand the effects of ground clutter on the polarimetric variables. While ground clutter exhibits a clear signal on the linear depolarization ratio LDR, the effects of ground clutter on differential reflectivity ZDR and the differential propagation phase phiDP is less pronounced and requires more attention. Observations will be used to show the statistics of the effect of ground clutter on polarimetric variables and to quantify this effect. The statistical behaviour can be used to define a quality control in order to avoid the contamination of polarimetric variables by ground clutter.
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