On cloud radar and microwave radiometer measurements of stratus cloud liquid water profiles

Abstract

We show a method for determining stratus cloud liquid water profiles using a microwave radiometer and cloud radar. This method is independent of the radar calibration and the cloud-droplet size distribution provided that the sixth moment of the size distribution can be related to the square of the third moment. We have calculated these moments with a wide variety of in situ measurements and show that this is a reasonable assumption. Examples of droplet distributions that meet this requirement are the lognormal and gamma distributions. Copyright 1998 by the American Geophysical Union.