Articles | Volume 10, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2239-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2239-2017
Research article
 | 
13 Jun 2017
Research article |  | 13 Jun 2017

Evaluation of radar reflectivity factor simulations of ice crystal populations from in situ observations for the retrieval of condensed water content in tropical mesoscale convective systems

Emmanuel Fontaine, Delphine Leroy, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Julien Delanoë, Alain Protat, Fabien Dezitter, Alice Grandin, John Walter Strapp, and Lyle Edward Lilie

Download

Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
Download
Short summary
In this study we evaluate a method to estimate cloud water content (CWC) knowing cloud reflectivity. Ice hydrometeors are replace by ice oblate spheroids to simulate their reflectivity. There is no assumption on the relation between mass and their size. Then, a broad range of CWCs are compared with direct measurements of CWC. The accuracy of the method is ~ ±32 %. This study is performed in areas of convective clouds where reflectivity and CWC are especially high, what makes it unique.