PATH TO NEXRAD: Doppler Radar Development at the National Severe Storms Laboratory

Brown, Rodger A.; Lewis, John M.

doi:10.1175/bams-86-10-1459

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Soon after, ground-based facilities were equipped with multiwavelength capabilities (centimeter-and millimeter-wavelength radars; see Table 1 for band nomenclature) to capture both clouds and precipitation. Examples of such facilities include those operated by the DOE ARM program, the JOYCE facility, the Chilbolton Observatory and the Barbados Cloud Observatory (Brown & Lewis, 2005;Kollias et al, 2016Kollias et al, , 2020Löhnert et al, 2015;Stevens et al, 2016).…”

Section: 1029/2019rg000686mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spaceborne Cloud and Precipitation Radars: Status, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Battaglia

Kollias

Dhillon

et al. 2020

Reviews of Geophysics

103

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Spaceborne radars offer a unique three‐dimensional view of the atmospheric components of the Earth's hydrological cycle. Existing and planned spaceborne radar missions provide cloud and precipitation information over the oceans and land difficult to access in remote areas. A careful look into their measurement capabilities indicates considerable gaps that hinder our ability to detect and probe key cloud and precipitation processes. The international community is currently debating how the next generation of spaceborne radars shall enhance current capabilities and address remaining gaps. Part of the discussion is focused on how to best take advantage of recent advancements in radar and space platform technologies while addressing outstanding limitations. First, the observing capabilities and measurement highlights of existing and planned spaceborne radar missions including TRMM, CloudSat, GPM, RainCube, and EarthCARE are reviewed. Then, the limitations of current spaceborne observing systems, with respect to observations of low‐level clouds, midlatitude and high‐latitude precipitation, and convective motions, are thoroughly analyzed. Finally, the review proposes potential solutions and future research avenues to be explored. Promising paths forward include collecting observations across a gamut of frequency bands tailored to specific scientific objectives, collecting observations using mixtures of pulse lengths to overcome trade‐offs in sensitivity and resolution, and flying constellations of miniaturized radars to capture rapidly evolving weather phenomena. This work aims to increase the awareness about existing limitations and gaps in spaceborne radar measurements and to increase the level of engagement of the international community in the discussions for the next generation of spaceborne radar systems.

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Section: 1029/2019rg000686mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spaceborne Cloud and Precipitation Radars: Status, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Battaglia

Kollias

Dhillon

et al. 2020

Reviews of Geophysics

103

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“…Using available military surplus, in the 1950s they developed the first meteorological radars operating at centimeter (1-10 cm) wavelengths. A description of the early days in radar meteorology can be found in Atlas (1990), Rogers and Smith (1996), Lhermitte (2002), and Brown and Lewis (2005).…”

Section: Doi: 101175/bams-88-i0-i608mentioning

confidence: 99%

Millimeter-Wavelength Radars: New Frontier in Atmospheric Cloud and Precipitation Research

Kollias¹,

Clothiaux²,

Miller³

et al. 2007

Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.

227

154

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“…We utilize data from the July 1997 IOP, which was characterized by frequent convective events. Precipitation data is derived from the NEXRAD radar network (Leone et al 1989;Brown and Lewis 2005) gridded to 4 km ϫ 4 km resolution over the SGP domain.…”

Section: Observational Datasetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convective Precipitation Variability as a Tool for General Circulation Model Analysis

2007

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Precipitation variability is analyzed in two versions of the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM), the standard model, CAM, and a "multiscale modeling framework" (MMF), in which the cumulus parameterization has been replaced with a cloud-resolving model. Probability distribution functions (PDFs) of daily mean rainfall in three geographic locations [the Amazon Basin and western Pacific in December-February (DJF) and the North American Great Plains in June-August (JJA)] indicate that the CAM produces too much light-moderate rainfall (10 ϳ 20 mm day Ϫ1 ), and not enough heavy rainfall, compared to observations. The MMF underestimates rain contributions from the lightest rainfall rates but correctly simulates more intense rainfall events. These differences are not always apparent in seasonal mean rainfall totals.Analysis of 3-6-hourly rainfall and sounding data in the same locations reveals that the CAM produces moderately intense rainfall as soon as the boundary layer energizes. Precipitation is also concurrent with tropospheric relative humidity and lifted parcel buoyancy increases. In contrast, the MMF and observations are characterized by a lag of several hours between boundary layer energy buildup and precipitation, and a gradual increase in the depth of low-level relative humidity maximum prior to rainfall.The environmental entrainment rate selection in the CAM cumulus parameterization influences CAM precipitation timing and intensity, and may contribute to the midlevel dry bias in that model. The resulting low-intensity rainfall in the CAM leads to rainfall-canopy vegetation interactions that are different from those simulated by the MMF. The authors present evidence suggesting that this interaction may artificially inflate North American Great Plains summertime rainfall totals in the CAM.

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PATH TO NEXRAD: Doppler Radar Development at the National Severe Storms Laboratory

Cited by 16 publications

References 19 publications

Spaceborne Cloud and Precipitation Radars: Status, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Spaceborne Cloud and Precipitation Radars: Status, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Millimeter-Wavelength Radars: New Frontier in Atmospheric Cloud and Precipitation Research

Convective Precipitation Variability as a Tool for General Circulation Model Analysis

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