Comparisons of retrieved drop size distributions from a video and JW disdrometer observed during the NAMMA field campaign

During the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) field campaign, two disdrometers were co-located at the Laboratory for Atmospheres located at the UCAD in Dakar, Senegal. The first disdrometer was the well-known Joss-Wadvogel acoustic impact disdrometer (JW disdrometer). The second disdrometer was a video disdrometer (Rain Imaging System:RIS) developed by Dr. Larry Bliven at the NASA/Wallops Flight Facility. The video disdrometer was placed directly over the JW such that the sample volumes were as close together as possible. This study compares the DSD retrievals between the two disdrometers. Axis ratios will be estimated using the RIS observations, which will be compared to published relationships. These results will be used to compute polarimetric fields based on the DSD observations. The polarimetric retrievals will be compared to measurements by the NASA Polarimetric (NPOL) radar, which was deployed 40 km SE of the disdrometers. A summary of the key results will be discussed in the presentation.