Rainfall kinetic energy and intensity relationships in Mexico City

It is widely acknowledged that measurements of rainfall microphysics from disdrometers, enable the derivation of more accurate rainfall kinetic energy estimates and intensities, reducing the uncertainty commonly ascribed to these observations. In order to characterize the rainfall erosion potential with regards to different types of precipitation (e.g. convective and non-convective), this study presents measurements from a laser-optical disdrometer and a weighing precipitiation gauge, both installed in Mexico City, Mexico, between June 2015 and November 2015 to measure rainfall intensity (I), kinetic energy (KE) and size distribution of raindrops. Relationships between rainfall KE and I are derived from both instruments to evaluate the performance of the disdrometer in measuring rainfall drop size distributions in terms of rain depth, I, and KE at this location. Finally, an assessment of uncertainty and its dependence on the type of precipitation will be also presented.