Precipitation Measurement at CESAR, the Netherlands

Abstract

The Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) observatory hosts a unique collection of instruments related to precipitation measurement. The data collected by these instruments are stored in a database that is freely accessible through a Web interface. The instruments present at the CESAR site include three disdrometers (two on the ground and one at 200 m above ground level), a dense network of rain gauges, three profiling radars (1.3, 3.3, and 35 GHz), and an X-band Doppler polarimetric scanning radar. In addition to these instruments, operational weather radar data from the nearby (?25 km) De Bilt C-band Doppler radar are also available. The richness of the datasets available is illustrated for a rainfall event, where the synergy of the different instruments provides insight into precipitation at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These datasets, which are freely available to the scientific community, can contribute greatly to our understanding of precipitation-related atmospheric and hydrologic processes.