Simulation Study of the Applicability of the “Slice” Approach to Assessing the Water Content in Clouds from the Radar Return Signal

Abstract

By computer simulation, the main consequences of the “slice” approach to assessing the power of a radar return signal from an atmospheric water cloud were verified. The cloud was modeled as a set of slices, which are thin layers coinciding with the wavefront of the probing radar radiation. The return signal was calculated as the convolution of the probe pulse with the cloud. The simulation was based on the previously derived “slice” radar equation, which determines the received power taking into account the statistical characteristics of fluctuations in the number of slice droplets and their water content. Estimates of the magnitude of the simulated return signal were compared with the theoretical formula for various statistical characteristics of the ensemble of droplets that make up the cloud model. The simulation result confirmed the validity of using the slice approach to interpret radar measurements of water content in clouds.