A Study on the Feasibility of Dual-Wavelength Radar for Identification of Hydrometeor Phases

An important objective for the dual-wavelength Ku-/Ka-band precipitation radar (DPR) that will be on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite is to identify the phase state of hydrometeors along the range direction. To assess this, radar signatures are simulated in snow and rain to explore the relation between the differential frequency ratio (DFR), defined as the difference of radar reflectivity factors between Ku and Ka bands, and the radar reflectivity factor at Ku band Z(Ku) for different hydrometeor types. Model simulations indicate that there is clear separation between snow and rain in the Z(Ku)-DFR plane assuming that the snow follows the Gunn Marshall size distribution and rain follows the Marshall-Palmer size distribution. In an effort to verify the simulated results, the data collected by the Airborne Second-Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-2) in the Wakasa Bay Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) campaign are employed. Using the signatures of linear depolarization ratio at Ku band, the APR-2 data can be easily divided into the regions of snow, mixed phase, and rain for stratiform storms. These results are then superimposed onto the theoretical curves computed from the model in the Z(Ku)-DFR plane. For over 90% of the observations from a cold-season stratiform precipitation event, snow and rain can be distinguished if the Ku-band radar reflectivity exceeds 18 dBZ (the minimum detectable level of the GPM DPR at Ku band). This is also the case for snow and mixed-phase hydrometeors. Although snow can be easily distinguished from rain and melting hydrometeors by using Ku- and Ka-band radar, the rain and mixed-phase particles are not always separable. It is concluded that Ku- and Ka-band dual-wavelength radar might provide a potential means to identify the phase state of hydrometeors.