The parameterization of rain for a weather radar

Quantitative measurement of rain is an important application of radar remot e sensing. The variability of raindrop size distribution is one of the majo r error sources originating from natural rainfall properties. The study of an airborne microphysical data set from the TOGA/COARE experiment shows tha t the large dispersion seen in the relationships between integral rainfall parameters can be remarkably reduced when using relevant scaling by paramet er N-0*, a function of the liquid water content W, and the med lan volume d iameter D-0. The statistics of N-0* show the importance of considering diff erent mean values for convective and stratiform rain, respectively. ((C) Ac ademie des sciences/Elsevier, Paris.).