An Investigation on Super-and Sub-Terminal Drops in Two Different Rain Categories and Climate Regimes

The pressing need for accurate and reliable precipitation measurements and forecasting poses theoretical and technological problems. Remote-sensing instruments with increased coverage and sensitivity (such as space-borne and ground-based radar) are available; however, their full exploitation requires physical calibration and validation based on a deep knowledge of precipitation microphysics. This study reports a detailed analysis of the evidence of non-terminal velocities in a mid-latitude (Bologna, Italy) and a tropical location (Kolkata, India). The data from two identical disdrometers OTT-Parsivel2 were analyzed to shed light on the nature of the raindrops that fall at a velocity that is significantly higher (i.e., super-terminal drops) or lower (sub-terminal drops) than the terminal velocity expected for the raindrop sizes. The results show a significant fraction of super- and sub-terminal drops in both locations. The percentages of both super- and sub-terminal drops were higher in Kolkata. However, the difference was more notable for convective rain. The percentages of both super- and sub-terminal drops were found to be high within a drop diameter of 1 mm. The number of sub-terminal drops seemed to increase with an increase in diameter for drops larger than ~2.5 mm. The natural rain in Bologna showed stronger evidence of drop break-up in correspondence with the evolution of non-terminal velocities. Moreover, this study once again pointed toward the fact that the process of break-up cannot be neglected in natural rain of tropical or mid-latitude locations. We found that 7% and 10% of rain samples in Bologna and Kolkata seemed to be subjected to drop break-up. The results indicate that radar measurements of rain in the tropics or mid-latitude regions, relying on the Gunn–Kinzer relationship between velocity and diameter, should be verified by observations of disdrometers for a high precision QPE.