Polarimetric Meteorology and Atmospheric Particles Identification

Polarimetric techniques for remote sensing of precipitation provide significant additional information that are essential for determining the intrinsic properties of the medium. In particular, polarization diversity radar systems which provide for the variation of the transmitted wave polarization, and for the dual reception of orthog+ nally polarized waves, have been proven to be advantageous in that respect. At the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, polarimetric radars that yield directly the elements of the coherency matrix, have been used in precipitation measurements. Combining polarization agility with the coherency matrix measurements at different polarization basis provides additional information about the intrinsic properties of the scatterers and other important meteorological aspects. In this paper, these aspects are summarized, the techniques used are described and some results from measurements are presented.