Refractivity Measurements from Ground Clutter Using the National Weather Radar Testbed Phased Array Radar

In warm seasons, convective precipitation initiation heavily depends on moisture near the surface [e.g., Dabberdt and Schlatter, 1996; Koch et al., 1997]. A necessary condition for an accurate prediction of convective rainfall is a good forecast of where and when convection will develop. Both prediction and understanding of convection is limited by the lack of high spatial and temporal resolution of water vapor measurements [Weckwerth and Parsons, 2003]. Radiosondes that launch twice a day simply do not supply the measurements at the desired level of temporal and spatial resolution. Near surface measurements were deemed necessary but are expensive to implement on a dense network.