Preliminary Analysis of Data Quality and Cloud Statistics from Ka-Band Cloud Radar

The Ka-band cloud radar (KCR) has been operated by the National Institute of Meteorological Research (NIMR) of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) at Boseong National Center for Intensive Observation of severe weather since 2013. Evaluation of data quality is an essential process to further analyze cloud information. In this study, we estimate the measurement error and the sampling uncertainty to evaluate data quality. By using vertically pointing data, the statistical uncertainty is obtained by calculating the standard deviation of each radar parameter. The statistical uncertainties decrease as functions of sampling number. The statistical uncertainties of horizontal and vertical reflectivities are identical (0.28 dB). On the other hand, the statistical uncertainties of Doppler velocity (spectrum width) are 2.2 times (1.6 times) larger at the vertical channel. The reflectivity calibration of KCR is also performed using X-band vertically pointing radar (VertiX) and 2-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD). Since the monitoring of calibration values is useful to evaluate radar condition, the variation of calibration is monitored for five rain events. The average of calibration bias is 10.77 dBZ and standard deviation is 3.69 dB. Finally, the statistical characteristics of cloud properties have been investigated during two months in autumn using calibrated reflectivity. The percentage of clouds is about 26% and 16% on September to October. However, further analyses are required to derive general characteristics of autumn cloud in Korea.