Radar Attenuation by Wet Ice Spheres

Abstract

Calculations have been made of the radar reflectivity and attenuation produced by exponential distributions of dry and wet ice spheres. Appropriate data are presented in the form of tables and graphs. It is shown that attenuation by wet spheres is substantially larger than that by dry spheres. If the ice spheres axe coated with a layer of water 0.05 cm thick and extend in diameters to ?2 cm, they would produce two-way attenuations of about 7, 5 and 1 db km?1 at wavelengths of 3.21, 5.5 and 10.0 cm, respectively. Procedures for the radar detection of hail must take into account the attenuation caused by the hail itself.