Evaluation of polarimetric ice microphysical retrievals with OLYMPEX campaign data

Citation

II aircraft with X-band Doppler on Wheels (DOW) measurements. Sector-averaged range height indicator (RHI) scans are used to derive vertical profiles of microphysical retrievals. The comparison of these estimates with in situ data provides insights into strengths, weaknesses, and the accuracy of the different retrievals and quantifies the improvements in polarimetry-informed retrievals compared to conventional, non-polarimetric ones.

In particular, the recently introduced hybrid ice water content retrieval exploiting reflectivity Z(H), differential reflectivity Z(DR), and specific differential phase KDP outperforms other retrievals based on either (Z(H), Z(DR)) or (Z(H), K-DP) or non-polarimetric retrievals in terms of correlations with in situ measurements and the root mean square error.