Abstract:
The distribution characteristics of hydrometeor and supercooled liquid water in clouds are crucial for understanding the microphysical mechanisms behind cloud and precipitation formation, as well as for constructing and validating numerical model cloud physics parameterization schemes. On the basis of Ka−band radar data collected during the Second Qinghai–Xizang Plateau Scientific Expedition in Nyingchi, southeast Qinghai–Xizang Plateau, the distribution properties of hydrometeor classification and supercooled liquid water content of a typical precipitating stratiform cloud (on 16–17 September 2019) were investigated following data quality control procedures. The results showed that the data denoising rate of the cloud radar based on the “
k−nearest neighbor frequency method” was within the range of 1.5%–5.0%, and the data gap filling rate was within the range of 3.5%–7.0%. After applying the iterative correction method, the difference between the attenuation-corrected radar data and raw data was between 0 and 5 dB
Z. The precipitation formation mechanism for this typical stratiform cloud had certain unique characteristics. Precipitation was formed by the merging of middle and high clouds induced by the lifting of large-scale atmospheric circulation, and low-level clouds were formed by orographic lifting. In the initial stage, the cloud top reached 12 km, and the clouds at the upper and lower levels were distinctly separated. There was no evident bright band at the melting layer. The particle distribution within the clouds was relatively homogeneous, and ice crystals and snow particles were dominant, with a relatively high supercooled liquid water content in the middle and high clouds. In the mature stage, the middle and high clouds merged with the low clouds, leading to precipitation formation, and the cloud tops decreased to around 10 km. The clouds became inhomogeneous, with an evident bright band at the melting layer and weakly embedded convective cells. The dominant hydrometeors were ice and snow particles, with a small amount of graupel in the embedded convective cells. The supercooled liquid water content was mainly distributed in the embedded convective cells, with a maximum value of 0.5–0.6 g m
−3. In the decaying stage, as the large-scale weather system passed over the study region, the middle and high cold clouds weakened rapidly, and the weak warm rain generated by the low-level orographic clouds became dominant, resulting in the disappearance of the bright band at the melting layer. A thin layer of ice and snow was present above the melting layer.