Advanced Hydrometeor Identification of Severe Storms During STEPS

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The STEPS project (Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study), planned for the early summer of 2000 in western Kansas, includes a network of three 10-cm wavelength Doppler radars: CHILL, S-Pol, and the Goodland, Kansas, WSR-88D. The first two are also equipped for polarimetric measurements. The polarimetric data enable estimation of hydrometeor types (snow, hail, rain) within thunderstorms and the Doppler data may be analyzed to give the airflow. This project contributes to STEPS by providing gridded data sets of wind vectors and polarization parameters for STEPS investigators. With colleagues J.C. Hubbert and L.J. Miller, the Principal Investigator will use the Doppler-observed airflow to calculate the growth of precipitation particles as they are swept through the storm. Results will be compared with radar and aircraft observations to achieve a consistent picture of the relation between thunderstorm kinematics and precipitation. The work also contributes to the validation of polarimetric radar data interpretation.