Abstract
In this work the longstanding question of the connections between raindrop-size distributions (RDSDs) and radar reflectivity-rainfall rate (Z-R) relationships is revisited, this time from the combined approach of rain-forming physical processes that shape the RDSD, and a formulation of the RDSD into the simplest free parameters of the rain intensity R, rainwater content W, and median volume drop diameter D0. This is accomplished through a theoretical analysis, using a gamma RDSD, of D0-R and W-R relations implied by the coefficients and exponents in empirical Z-R relations. The results provide a means by which these Z-R relations can be classified. The most dramatic of these classifications involves the relation between D0 and W, which shows a remarkable ordering with the rain types.
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Rosenfeld, D., Ulbrich, C.W. (2003). Cloud Microphysical Properties, Processes, and Rainfall Estimation Opportunities. In: Wakimoto, R.M., Srivastava, R. (eds) Radar and Atmospheric Science: A Collection of Essays in Honor of David Atlas. Meteorological Monographs. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-878220-36-3_10
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