Estimating raindrop size distributions using microwave link measurements: potential and limitations

van Leth, Thomas C.; Leijnse, Hidde; Overeem, Aart; Uijlenhoet, Remko

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1797-2020

Articles | Volume 13, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1797-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1797-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 13, issue 4

Research article

|

08 Apr 2020

Research article |

| 08 Apr 2020

Estimating raindrop size distributions using microwave link measurements: potential and limitations

Thomas C. van Leth, Hidde Leijnse, Aart Overeem, and Remko Uijlenhoet

Data sets

Wageningen Urban Rainfall experiment T. C. van Leth, A. Overeem, R. Uijlenhoet, and H. Leijnse https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:1dd45123-c732-4390-9fe4-6e09b578d4ff

Retrieval of the raindrop size distribution from polarimetric radar data using double-moment normalisation (https://doi.org/10.14768/MISTRALS-HYMEX.721) T. H. Raupach and A. Berne https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2573-2017

Short summary

We present a method of using collocated microwave link instruments to estimate the average size distribution of raindrops along a path of several kilometers. Our method is validated using simulated fields as well as five laser disdrometers installed along a path. We also present preliminary results from an experimental setup measuring at 26 and 38 GHz along a 2.2 km path. We show that a retrieval on the basis of microwave links can be highly accurate, provided the base power level is stable.