Ground-based remote sensing of precipitation in the Arctic

[1] In this paper, a simple technique is described for application of radar to retrievals of vertical profiles of precipitation in the Arctic. The method is applied specifically to data from the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) North Slope of Alaska– Adjacent Arctic Ocean (NSA-AAO) site near Barrow, Alaska. Profiles of precipitation characteristic size are obtained by developing a relationship between particle size and particle fall speed derived from 35 GHz Doppler radar. The relationship depends on an assumed sizeand temperature-dependent particle morphology tailored to the Arctic. Error analysis indicates that typical uncertainties in the precipitation retrieval rate are, to 95% confidence, about 40% for ice and 15% for liquid, although they can be as high as a factor of 2. Monthly averaged precipitation retrievals show strong seasonal variation and compare to within respective uncertainties with local ground-based National Weather Service and ARM NSA-AAO surface measurements. Measurements of precipitation profiles show substantial evaporation of precipitation to the atmosphere below cloud base. Associated atmospheric cooling can be several K d , suggesting it may be a substantial component of the boundary layer energy budget in the Arctic.