Abstract
In this paper the results of an investigation are presented that are concerned with the feasibility of employing a weather radar to make precise measurements of the properties of a precipitating cloud. A schematic cloud is proposed as a model for interpreting the interaction of the radar energy with the cloud. Point values of the liquid-water concentration are estimated from measurements of the received power. The measurements were made under conditions which minimized errors arising from attenuation of the radar signal and a radar beam which is not completely filled with raindrops. A continuity equation for liquid-water concentration is developed. The vertical speeds at the core of convective clouds are related to the spatial and temporal variations of the liquid-water content by means of this equation. The version of the continuity equation developed in this study represents an improvement over forms used previously. The new version accounts for the downward development of a radar echo at speeds faster than the fall speed of raindrops. This echo development is caused by the mechanism. ...
Runnels, Robert Clayton (1968). On the feasibility of precisely measuring the properties of a precipitation cloud with a weather radar. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -172852.