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WACR

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wacr: W-Band (95 GHz) ARM Cloud Radar

The W-band Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Facility Cloud Radar (WACR) systems are zenith-pointing Doppler radars that probe the extent and composition of clouds at 95.04 GHz.

The main purpose of this radar is to determine cloud boundaries (e.g., cloud bottoms and tops).

This radar reports estimates for the first three spectra moments for each range gate up to 15 km. The 0th moment is reflectivity, the 1st moment is radial velocity, and the 2nd moment is spectral width. Also available are the raw spectra files.

Unlike the millimeter wavelength cloud radar (MMCR), the WACR does not use pulse coding and operates in only copolarization and cross-polarization modes.

Measurements

Radar Doppler
Radar reflectivity

Locations

  • Fixed
  • AMF1
  • AMF2
  • AMF3

Related Publications

2017

Takahashi H, K Suzuki, and G Stephens. 2017. "Land-ocean differences in the warm-rain formation process in satellite and ground-based observations and model simulations." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 143(705), 10.1002/qj.3042.

2016

Burns D, P Kollias, A Tatarevic, A Battaglia, and S Tanelli. 2016. "The performance of the EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar in marine stratiform clouds." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121(24), 10.1002/2016JD025090.

Matrosov SY. 2016. "Characteristic raindrop size retrievals from measurements of differences in vertical Doppler velocities at Ka- and W-band radar frequencies." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, , 10.1175/jtech-d-16-0181.1. ONLINE.

Helmus JJ and SM Collis. 2016. "The Python ARM Radar Toolkit (Py-ART), a Library for Working with Weather Radar Data in the Python Programming Language." Journal of Open Research Software, 4(1), 10.5334/jors.119.

Zheng X, SA Klein, H Ma, P Bogenschutz, A Gettelman, and VE Larson. 2016. "Assessment of marine boundary layer cloud simulations in the CAM with CLUBB and updated microphysics scheme based on ARM observations from the Azores." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121(14), 10.1002/2016jd025274.

2015

Rémillard J and G Tselioudis. 2015. "Cloud Regime Variability over the Azores and Its Application to Climate Model Evaluation." Journal of Climate, 28(24), 10.1175/jcli-d-15-0066.1.

2014

Fielding MD, J Chiu, RJ Hogan, and G Feingold. 2014. "A novel ensemble method for retrieving properties of warm cloud in 3-D using ground-based scanning radar and zenith radiances." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 119(18), 10.1002/2014jd021742.

Boutle IA, SJ Abel, PG Hill, and CJ Morcrette. 2014. "Spatial variability of liquid cloud and rain: observations and microphysical effects." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 140(679), 10.1002/qj.2140.

2013

Chandra A, K Pavlos, and A Bruce. 2013. "Multiyear Summertime Observations of Daytime Fair-Weather Cumuli at the ARM Southern Great Plains Facility." Journal of Climate, 26(24), 10.1175/jcli-d-12-00223.1.

Luke EP and P Kollias. 2013. "Separating Cloud and Drizzle Radar Moments during Precipitation Onset Using Doppler Spectra." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 30(8), 10.1175/jtech-d-11-00195.1.

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