Post on 19-Dec-2015
UC Santa Cruz @ VOCALS?
• PI: Patrick Chuang• Instrument: Phase-Doppler
interferometer• Measures cloud drop
– size– velocity – inter-drop spacing
on a single drop basis.• Size range: 3 to 150 um
PDI mounted on the CIRPAS TwinOtter
Sample data from the Marine Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE). Note the occurence of bi-modal distributions most likely caused by collision-coalescence, a key process in drizzle formation.
Comparison of view volume diameter derived from in situ measurements and theoretically-derived curve.
The theoretical curve uses two parameters:
1. The laser beam waist diameter
2. The minimum scattered light intensity required for detection by photodetectors.
Fitting data to theoretical curve retrieves (1), leaving (2) as the only free parameter.