Vertical profiles of Doppler spectra of hydrometeors from a Micro Rain Radar recorded during the austral summer of 2016/2017 in the Southern Ocean on the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE).

Dataset abstract

This dataset includes vertical profiles of the Doppler spectra and derived quantities of hydrometeors using a Micro Rain Radar (MRR-2) during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition in 2016/2017. The MRR is a frequency-modulated-continuous-wave (FMCW) Doppler radar working at 24 GHz (K band). It measures the Doppler spectrum at vertical incidence with 31 range gates of 100 m. The data are processed to calculate rainfall rates and standard radar moments. For rain events, the drop size distribution and the rainfall rate are derived using the method by Peters et al. (2005). For snow events, the moments are computed from the Doppler spectrum as described in Maahn & Kollias (2012).

Dataset contents

• RawSpectra/${year}${month}/MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}_RAW.nc: raw data of Doppler spectra for rainfall events. Null values are denoted as -99900.
• ProcessedData/${year}${month}/MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}_PRO.nc: 10-second averages (highest resolution) for specific rain events, using the standard products from Metek (MRR physical basics, 2009).
• AveData/${year}${month}/MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}_AVE.nc: one-minute averages, using the standard products from Metek (MRR physical basics, 2009).
• Processed_IMProToo/${year}${month}/mrr_improtoo_0.101_ACE_${year}${month}${day}.nc: processed data for snow events using IMProToo (Maahn & Kollias 2012) in one-minute averages.
• RR_timeline/${year}${month}/RR_MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}.csv: 10-minute running mean with one-minute resolution of rain rate for [100-200]m and [200-300]m range gate. Null values are denoted as ‘nan’.
• RR_timeline/${year}${month}/RR_MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}.png: daily plots of rain rates.
• PrecipitationEvents.txt: text file classifying the precipitation events according to hydrometeors (rain, snow or hail).
• Graphs_Metek/${year}${month}/moments_MRR_ACE_${year}${month}${day}_AVEnc.png: daily plots of Radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity for rain events.
• Graphs_IMProToo/${year}${month}/moments_mrr_improtoo_0101_ACE_${year}${month}${day}.png: daily plots of Radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity for snow events.
• RawSpectra_data_file_header.txt, metadata, text format
• Metek_ProcessedData_data_file_header.txt, metadata, text format
• IMProToo_ProcessedData_data_file_header.txt, metadata, text format
• AveData_data_file_header.txt, metadata, text format
• README.txt, metadata, text format
• change_log.txt, metadata, text format

Change log

• v1.2 - Amended abstract text. Changed descriptions of files in dataset contents. Added dataset license to README. Updated README and change_log files.
• v1.1 - Added missing PrecipitationEvents.txt file. Added change_log.txt file.
• v1.0 - Initial version of dataset.

Dataset license

This vertical Doppler spectra profile dataset is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) whose full text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/