Comparison of Raindrop Size Distribution Estimates From X-Band and S-Band Polarimetric Observations

Anagnostou, M. N., Anagnostou, E. N., Vivekanandan, J., Ogden, F. L., 2007: Comparison of Raindrop Size Distribution Estimates From X-Band and S-Band Polarimetric Observations. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 4(4), pp. 601-605

Abstract. This letter evaluates the consistency of rainfall drop size distribution (DSD) parameters that were estimated from attenuation-corrected X-band dual-polarization (XPOL) radar measurements with estimates from a colocated S-band dual-polarization radar (S-Pol). The DSD retrieval technique uses reflectivity and differential reflectivity, and a constrained relationship to estimate the three parameters of a “normalized” gamma distribution model. The more definitive S-Pol DSD parameter estimates are used as a reference to assess the performance of the corresponding XPOL estimates for different rain-path attenuation values. Results show that XPOL attenuation-corrected profiles can provide rainfall DSD estimations that are consistent to an S-band dual-polarization radar, even in cases of moderate to high rain-path attenuation.

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