Why and How to Construct a Device for Hail Simulation

Abstract

Hail characterization is necessary for generating models to protect people and their goods. Designing an electronic characterization system requires reproducing hail events. The objective of this article is to present a design proposal of a device for hail simulation based on the theory of energy matching. The simulator uses steel balls in place of hailstones. It can be loaded with up to 14 balls of sizes between 0.5 cm to 3.0 cm, which can be either dropped one by one or in pairs. If dropped in pairs, the distance between them can be regulated, as well as the delay. In this paper, the importance of having such a device is explained and several experiments to be conducted by using it in order to design a hail sensor are described.