Radar Hall Profiles in Switzerland

Abstract

Radar reflectivity profiles of 154 hail cells have been investigated. An average profile (the hail profile) has been derived. A global method has been used since the hail profile is designed to be applied to global hail parameters. Maximum reflectivities are found at h0 ? 1 km, where h0 is the height of the 0°C isotherm. The change in reflectivity reaches 3 dB km?1 at h0 ? 2 km and for 60 dBZ. This finding agrees with a theoretical profile based on the melting of hailstones. Above h0 the radar reflectivities decrease continuously with a rate of ?1 to ?2 dB km?1.