IT-RAD dataset collected during the 10th July 2019 Mediterranean hail-bearing Supercell

This dataset includes radar observations of an exceptional hail-bearing Supercell that hit the Adriatic coast of central Italy on 10 July 2019, causing flash flood and giant-hail precipitation. The event was observed by two polarimetric Doppler C-band systems operated by the Italian Department of Civil Protection, being part of the Italian radar network (IT-RAD). The northernmost of the two radars, located inland on mount Serano, was able to observe the initial development of the cell. The other system, positioned closer to the coast on mount Il Monte, had an enviable view of the long-lived supercell, enabling to fully characterize its most intense phase.

The dataset is composed by high-resolution polar volumes of the following radar parameters: Uncorrected reflectivity Z (UZ), Corrected reflectivity Z (CZ), differential reflectivity (ZDR), uncorrected differential phase shift (PHIDP), co-polar correlation coefficient (RHOHV), Doppler Velocity (V), Doppler Width (W). The scan strategy is based on inverse elevation mode (from the highest to the lowest elevation angle) with variable PRF. The most intense phase of the event (from 10:00 to 11:00 UTC) was well captured by the radar system of “Il Monte” (lat = 41.9394 °, lon = 14.6208 °, altitude = 710 m) which, at the time of the event, was affected by an absolute bias (on CZ and UZ) and a differential bias (on ZDR) of about -2 dB and -0.9, respectively. For quantitative use the bias requires to be algebraically subtracted from the respective quantities. The user should be informed about some spot regions of missing data that might be present in the radar variables, especially on the V. This is caused by the thresholding approach applied at RSP level on the signal quality index (SQI) to compensate for W-LAN interferences.

The dataset, consisting of 7 hours of raw radar volumes with 5 minutes sampling rate, is provided in a proprietary format (“Datamet”) that is manageable by using the python code named read_datamet.py that is available at https://zenodo.org/record/4897245.