Exploring the Untapped Potential of Operational Weather Radars for Vertical Profiling of Precipitation and Clouds

Année de publication

2026

Vertically pointing Doppler cloud radars have been operated for over a decade by research networks around the globe, providing important insights into cloud microphysical processes and dynamics. In contrast, national weather radar networks mainly provide data at low-elevation angles to cover large areas and generally operate at longer wavelengths (typically at C- or S-band). Nonetheless, most polarimetric weather radars are also capable of collecting vertical profiling measurements, and such "birdbath" scans are already used routinely for radar calibration. Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)'s birdbath scan, for example, is repeated every 5 min within the operational scanning cycle and records the standard radar moments and full Doppler spectra. Analysis methods developed for cloud radars can be readily applied to C-band birdbath data, opening another avenue to study precipitation processes. Despite the lower sensitivity and coarser time resolution of C-band birdbath scans, our comparison of vertical C-band and Ka-band radar observations of winter and summer precipitation events shows remarkable agreement for light to moderate precipitation. One important advantage of a C-band system is the much weaker attenuation due to heavy precipitation so that the entire vertical structure of severe weather systems, such as hailstorms, can be resolved. As birdbath scans are already performed in many weather radar networks, these birdbath data should be leveraged to complement sparse cloud radar observations. Using this "new" data source, novel vertical cloud and precipitation products can be developed not only for validating model outputs and satellite observations but also for operational warning products. Significance Statement A vertical profiler scan for calibration purposes is often part of the operational scanning in weather radar networks but usually not used for meteorological applications. We show remarkable agreement between weather radar and cloud radar measurements. In this paper, we argue for exploiting these data to study precipitation and cloud processes. Less sensitive to attenuation, a direct look into hail-producing thunderstorms becomes possible. Only a minor investment in software extension was needed at the German Meteorological Service to fully open up this fascinating data stream for research and new meteorological product development.</div>

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