First nationwide analysis of riming using vertical observations from the operational German C-band radar network

Ockenfuß, Paul; Frech, Michael; Gergely, Mathias; Kneifel, Stefan

doi:10.5194/amt-19-2125-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2125-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modelling...

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2125-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 6

Research article

|

27 Mar 2026

Research article |

| 27 Mar 2026

First nationwide analysis of riming using vertical observations from the operational German C-band radar network

Paul Ockenfuß, Michael Frech, Mathias Gergely, and Stefan Kneifel

Data sets

Custom collection of categorize data from Jülich, and Lindenberg between 6 Mar 2010 and 1 Jan 2025 K. Ebell et al. https://doi.org/10.60656/f0afbd060bfe4a78

Model code and software

Codes for "First Nationwide Analysis of Riming Using Vertical Observations from the Operational German C-Band Radar Network" Paul Ockenfuß https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18095412

Short summary

The 17 operational German weather radars regularly point vertical for calibration. We proof that this data also contains valuable scientific information. To demonstrate this, we use it to detect the melting level in clouds and strong snowflake riming. Riming is the collision of a snowflake with liquid droplets, which can create precipitation. We analyze the frequency and temperature dependence of riming for all German weather radar sites and relate it to the local precipitation climatology.