Mario Zucchelli Radar, Disdrometric and snow gauge measurements during summer precipitation events

• Main Author: Scarchilli, Claudio
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2020
• Subjects: Antarctic; precipitation; surface mass balance; YOPP; Antarc*; Antarctica Journal; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.921490; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.921490

Precipitation fallen during the summer months (November-December-January) on four expeditions, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19, in the Terra Nova Bay area, were monitored using a vertically pointing radar, disdrometer and snow gauge. The vertical pointing METEK Micro Rain Radar 2 (MRR) was installed in MZS at the end of November 2015. It records Doppler velocity spectra every 10 s at 32 range gates. The radar gate spacing was set to 100 m allowing the profiler to sound heights ranging from 100 to 3100 m above the surface. The raw K-band power spectra, collected by the MRR, were processed applying the method proposed by Maahn and Kollias (2012) to correct for noise and aliasing effects, making them suitable for snow observation. A Thies CLIMA laser disdrometer (LPM), has been operational since December 2014.The disdrometer can simultaneously count and measure the size and fall velocity of hydrometeors (Frasson and others, 2011). A Total Rain weighing Sensor (TRwS) manufactured by MPS system was installed during the december 2018- January 2019 campaign within the YOPP observing period. The TRwS is a total rain/snowfall weighing gauge with an orifice area of 400 cm2, a depth accuracy of 0.01 mm of w.e. and a one -minute sampling time resolution (Savina and others, 2012). The TRwS was protected by an alter shield in order to minimize wind effect over the accumulation inside the instrumentation.