Precipitation rates from cloud systems can give a fundamental insight into in-cloud processes. While rain gauges and disdrometers can give information at a single point, remote sensors such as radars can provide rainfall information over a defined area.
The Quantitative Precipitation Experiment (QPE) value-added product (VAP) contains precipitation rates gathered by the C-band scanning ARM precipitation radar (C-SAPR), measured in millimeters per hour on a 240-by-240 kilometer grid at a resolution of 1 kilometer. These rates are determined by calculating the specific attenuation (in dBZ per kilometer) of the radar signal, containing information from a variety of polarimetric sources and relating this to rainfall intensity. Data are currently available for April 15–June 29, 2011, during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) at the Southern Great Plains.
More information on QPE is available at the VAP web page and in the README file that accompanies the data files in the Data Archive’s evaluation area.
To access these data, log in to the Data Archive. (Go here to request an account.)