Comparison of polarimetric signatures of hail at S and C bands for different hail sizes

In this study, severe hail cases in Oklahoma/USA are investigated by analyzing the data simultaneously collected by two closely located polarimetric weather radars operating at S and C bands. Polarimetric radar variables measured in the presence of hail at C band are quite different from the ones at S band due to more pronounced effects of resonance scattering and much stronger impact of attenuation. The differences are particularly strong in melting hail below the freezing level, but they can be substantial even at higher altitudes where hail is dry or grows in wet regime. As a consequence, the algorithms for hail detection and determination of its size developed at S band can't be directly applied to C band. Differences between vertical profiles of radar reflectivity Z, differential reflectivity ZDR, and cross-correlation coefficient ρhv in hail-bearing parts of the storms have been examined for large and giant hail. It is shown that in the presence of hail, ZDR(C) is usually higher than ZDR(S) and ρhv(C) < ρhv(S). The height of radar resolution volume with respect to the freezing level has to be taken into account in polarimetric hail detection/sizing. It is also demonstrated that giant hail is commonly associated with pronounced depression of ρhv in the areas of hail generation above the freezing level and the corresponding drop in ρhv at C band is much stronger than at S band. These results are compared to C-band polarimetric data collected in hail-bearing thunderstorms in Austria, where additional small hail size reports are available.

► We compared vertical profiles of polarimetric variables for different hail sizes.
► Significant differences occur for S and C band radar measurements.
► Below freezing level ZDR(C)>ZDR(S) and ρhv(C) < ρhv depending on hail size.
► Above freezing level ρhv hole reveal giant hail, more pronounced at C band.
► C-band standard deviations of ZDR and ρhv are more sensitive to hail size.