Articles | Volume 16, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3487-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3487-2023
Research article
 | 
17 Jul 2023
Research article |  | 17 Jul 2023

How observations from automatic hail sensors in Switzerland shed light on local hailfall duration and compare with hailpad measurements

Jérôme Kopp, Agostino Manzato, Alessandro Hering, Urs Germann, and Olivia Martius

Model code and software

jekopp-git/sensors_observations: hail sensors observations (v1.0) Jérôme Kopp https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8132366

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Short summary
We present the first study of extended field observations made by a network of 80 automatic hail sensors from Switzerland. The sensors record the exact timing of hailstone impacts, providing valuable information about the local duration of hailfall. We found that the majority of hailfalls lasts just a few minutes and that most hailstones, including the largest, fall during a first phase of high hailstone density, while a few remaining and smaller hailstones fall in a second low-density phase.