Articles | Volume 14, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6885-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6885-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Oct 2021
Research article |
| 26 Oct 2021
| 26 Oct 2021
Retrieving microphysical properties of concurrent pristine ice and snow using polarimetric radar observations
Nicholas J. Kedzuf
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO 80523, USA
J. Christine Chiu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO 80523, USA
V. Chandrasekar
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Sounak Biswas
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Shashank S. Joshil
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Yinghui Lu
Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Center for Advanced Data Assimilation and Predictability Techniques, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Peter Jan van Leeuwen
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO 80523, USA
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6BB, UK
Christopher Westbrook
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6BB, UK
Yann Blanchard
ESCER Centre, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Québec at Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, H3C 3P8, Canada
Sebastian O'Shea
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of
Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
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Short summary
Ice clouds play a key role in our climate system due to their strong controls on precipitation and the radiation budget. However, it is difficult to characterize co-existing ice species using radar observations. We present a new method that separates the radar signals of pristine ice embedded in snow aggregates and retrieves their respective abundances and sizes for the first time. The ability to provide their quantitative microphysical properties will open up many research opportunities.
Ice clouds play a key role in our climate system due to their strong controls on precipitation...
