The Influence of Drop Size Distributions on the Relationship between Liquid Water Content and Radar Reflectivity in Radiation Fogs

Atmosphere

Sebastian Egli¹  Boris Thies¹  Jörg Bendix¹ 

[1] Laboratory for Climatology and Remote Sensing (LCRS), Faculty of Geography, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Deutschhausstrasse 12, 35032 Marburg, Germany;

关键词: fog;    drop size distribution;    liquid water content;    radar reflectivity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos8080142

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study investigates the temporal dynamics of the drop size distribution (DSD) and its influence on the relationship between the liquid water content (LWC) and the radar reflectivity (Z) in fogs. Data measured during three radiation fog events at the Marburg Ground Truth and Profiling Station in Linden-Leihgestern, Germany, form the basis of this analysis. Specifically, we investigated the following questions: (1) Do the different fog life cycle stages exhibit significantly different DSDs? (2) Is it possible to identify characteristic DSDs for each life cycle stage? (3) Is it possible to derive reliable Z-LWC relationships by means of a characteristic DSD? The results showed that there were stage-dependent differences in the fog life cycles, although each fog event was marked by unique characteristics, and a general conclusion about the DSD during the different stages could not be made. A large degree of variation within each stage also precludes the establishment of a representative average spectrum.

【 授权许可】

Unknown