Pickering, BS orcid.org/0000-0002-8474-9005, Neely III, RR orcid.org/0000-0003-4560-4812 and Harrison, D (2019) The Disdrometer Verification Network (DiVeN): a UK network of laser precipitation instruments. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 12 (11). pp. 5845-5861. ISSN 1867-1381
Abstract
Starting in February 2017, a network of 14 Thies laser precipitation monitors (LPMs) were installed at various locations around the United Kingdom to create the Disdrometer Verification Network (DiVeN). The instruments were installed for verification of radar hydrometeor classification algorithms but are valuable for much wider use in the scientific and operational meteorological community. Every Thies LPM is able to designate each observed hydrometeor into one of 20 diameter bins from ≥0.125 to >8 mm and one of 22 speed bins from >0.0 to >20.0 m s−1. Using empirically derived relationships, the instrument classifies precipitation into one of 11 possible hydrometeor classes in the form of a present weather code, with an associated indicator of uncertainty. To provide immediate feedback to data users, the observations are plotted in near-real time (NRT) and made publicly available on a website within 7 min. Here we describe the Disdrometer Verification Network and present specific cases from the first year of observations. Cases shown here suggest that the Thies LPM performs well at identifying transitions between rain and snow, but struggles with detection of graupel and pristine ice crystals (which occur infrequently in the United Kingdom) inherently, due to internal processing. The present weather code quality index is shown to have some skill without the supplementary sensors recommended by the manufacturer. Overall the Thies LPM is a useful tool for detecting hydrometeor type at the surface and DiVeN provides a novel dataset not previously observed for the United Kingdom.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Author(s) 2019. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | precipitation; observation; UK; drop size distribution; hydrometeor type |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > National Centre for Atmos Science (NCAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jul 2019 11:50 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jul 2020 10:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Copernicus Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.5194/amt-12-5845-2019 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148319 |