Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band

Weather radars are essential in the Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) but are susceptible to calibration errors. Previous work demonstrated that observations from the Ku-band Dual Polarization Radar (DPR) radar on board the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Dual-Precipitation Radar (...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eleni Loulli, Silas Michaelides, Johannes Bühl, Athanasios Loukas, Diofantos Hadjimitsis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1712
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850255985965268992
author Eleni Loulli
Silas Michaelides
Johannes Bühl
Athanasios Loukas
Diofantos Hadjimitsis
author_facet Eleni Loulli
Silas Michaelides
Johannes Bühl
Athanasios Loukas
Diofantos Hadjimitsis
author_sort Eleni Loulli
collection DOAJ
description Weather radars are essential in the Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) but are susceptible to calibration errors. Previous work demonstrated that observations from the Ku-band Dual Polarization Radar (DPR) radar on board the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Dual-Precipitation Radar (GPM) are suitable for ground radar calibration. Several studies volume-matched ground radar and GPM DPR Ku-band reflectivities for the absolute calibration of ground radars, by applying different constraints and filters in the volume-matching procedure. This study compares and evaluates volume-matching thresholds and data filtering schemes for the Rizoelia, Larnaca (LCA) and Nata, Pafos (PFO) radars of the Cyprus weather radar network from October 2017 till May 2023. Excluding reflectivities below and within the melting layer with a 250 m buffer yielded consistent results for both ground radars. The selected calibration schemes were combined, and the resulting offsets were compared to stable radar parameters to identify stable calibration periods. The consistency of the wet hydrological year October 2019 to September 2020 suggests that radar calibration results are prone to differences in meteorological conditions, as scarce rainfall can result in insufficient data for reliable calibration. Future work will incorporate disdrometer measurements and extend the analysis to quantitative precipitation estimation.
format Article
id doaj-art-c8f0ece44d8e4b2f8932d175a83dcf4a
institution OA Journals
issn 2072-4292
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-c8f0ece44d8e4b2f8932d175a83dcf4a2025-08-20T01:56:45ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-05-011710171210.3390/rs17101712Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-BandEleni Loulli0Silas Michaelides1Johannes Bühl2Athanasios Loukas3Diofantos Hadjimitsis4Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Arch. Kyprianos Str., 3036 Lemesos, CyprusERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence, 82 Franklin Roosevelt, 3012 Lemesos, CyprusLeibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, GermanySchool of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Arch. Kyprianos Str., 3036 Lemesos, CyprusWeather radars are essential in the Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) but are susceptible to calibration errors. Previous work demonstrated that observations from the Ku-band Dual Polarization Radar (DPR) radar on board the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Dual-Precipitation Radar (GPM) are suitable for ground radar calibration. Several studies volume-matched ground radar and GPM DPR Ku-band reflectivities for the absolute calibration of ground radars, by applying different constraints and filters in the volume-matching procedure. This study compares and evaluates volume-matching thresholds and data filtering schemes for the Rizoelia, Larnaca (LCA) and Nata, Pafos (PFO) radars of the Cyprus weather radar network from October 2017 till May 2023. Excluding reflectivities below and within the melting layer with a 250 m buffer yielded consistent results for both ground radars. The selected calibration schemes were combined, and the resulting offsets were compared to stable radar parameters to identify stable calibration periods. The consistency of the wet hydrological year October 2019 to September 2020 suggests that radar calibration results are prone to differences in meteorological conditions, as scarce rainfall can result in insufficient data for reliable calibration. Future work will incorporate disdrometer measurements and extend the analysis to quantitative precipitation estimation.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1712X-band polarimetric weather radarCyprus radar networkcalibrationGPM DPR Ku-bandmeteorological radarreflectivity
spellingShingle Eleni Loulli
Silas Michaelides
Johannes Bühl
Athanasios Loukas
Diofantos Hadjimitsis
Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
Remote Sensing
X-band polarimetric weather radar
Cyprus radar network
calibration
GPM DPR Ku-band
meteorological radar
reflectivity
title Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
title_full Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
title_fullStr Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
title_full_unstemmed Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
title_short Calibration of Two X-Band Ground Radars Against GPM DPR Ku-Band
title_sort calibration of two x band ground radars against gpm dpr ku band
topic X-band polarimetric weather radar
Cyprus radar network
calibration
GPM DPR Ku-band
meteorological radar
reflectivity
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1712
work_keys_str_mv AT eleniloulli calibrationoftwoxbandgroundradarsagainstgpmdprkuband
AT silasmichaelides calibrationoftwoxbandgroundradarsagainstgpmdprkuband
AT johannesbuhl calibrationoftwoxbandgroundradarsagainstgpmdprkuband
AT athanasiosloukas calibrationoftwoxbandgroundradarsagainstgpmdprkuband
AT diofantoshadjimitsis calibrationoftwoxbandgroundradarsagainstgpmdprkuband