Simultaneous X-band and K-band study of precipitations

One of the core research areas of the “Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique” (LaMP) at the “Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand” (OPGC) is the study of clouds and precipitations, and their corresponding microphysical processes, both from the modeling and the observational point of vues. In order to improve its observation capabilities of precipitations, LaMP/OPGC has entered an agreement with the “Max-Plank-Institute für Meteorologie” and the University of Hamburg to acquire a low cost high resolution X-band radar developed by the team of Gerhard Peters. In order to gain experience with such a system, we have been looking at data collected by the prototype Xband radar and a set of K-band micro-rain radars (MRR) deployed during the LAUNCH-2005 campaign which took place around Lindenberg Observatory during September – October 2005. The X-band radar used a fixed elevation of 11.2° for its 2.4° degree pencil beam and was operated with a spatial resolution of 60m in range and 2° in azimuth, and with a temporal resolution of 30s. The 13 MRR systems were aligned over a 6 km line at a distance comprised between 3.5 and 6 km from the X-band radar. The vertically looking MRR resolution was set to 20s and 100m. In this study, in step with the AQUARADAR investigations, we will consider the variability of precipitations with both systems, and then focus on the common volumes of the X-band radar and the various MRR’s in order to investigate the corresponding Z-R relationship.