Attenuation Correction of Reflectivity and Differential Reflectivity for Dualpolarization Radar

Abstract

In this study, empirical AH-KDP and ADP-KDP relationship-based and self-consistent methods were used to correct the attenuation of reflectivity (zh) and differential reflectivity (ZDR) acquired from C- and X-bands dualpolarization radars, and the Zh of S-band Doppler radar was used to evaluate the results. The results indicated that, for Xband dual-polarization radar, the attenuation of Zh and ZDR could be corrected by two methods for heavy and moderate rain, and the distribution of Zh-ZDR scatters were closer to the theoretical relationship after self-consistent correction than that after empirical AH-KDP and ADP-KDP relationship-based correction. For light rain, similar results were obtained for two methods. For C-band dual-polarization radar, the degree of attenuation was less than X-band dual-polarization radar for the same intensity of rainfall, and the attenuation was need to be considered in heavy and moderate rain. For heavy rain, the distribution of Zh-ZDR scatters were closer to the theoretical relationship after empirical AH-KDP and ADP-KDP relationship based correction than that after self-consistent correction. For moderate rain, similar results were obtained for two methods. The corrected reflectivity of C-band dual-polarization radar was closer to that of S-band Doppler radar, however, for X-band dual-polarization radar, it was 5.10 dB larger than that of Sband Doppler radar in heavy rain, 4.64 dB in moderate rain, and 3.34 dB in light rain. It was consistent with the scattering simulation results of other scholars.