On the Possible Use of Copolar Correlation Coefficient for Improving the Drop Size Distribution Estimates at C Band

Abstract

A decrease in copolar correlation coefficient (?co) at C band has been observed for several rain events with broad drop size distributions (DSDs). Observational evidence comes from simultaneous measurements with a C-band dual-polarization radar and a 2D video disdrometer. The possibility of utilizing the ?co decrease for DSD retrievals is discussed. A preliminary method using the copolar reflectivity, differential reflectivity, and ?co is given for estimating the DSD parameters. Validation is carried out by deriving the differential propagation phase (Φdp) from the estimated DSD parameters and comparing against measurements. The method presented here shows potential but needs to be further assessed in different rain climatologies.