Measurement of snowfall parameters by radar and optical lidar

A new system to measure physical snowfall parameters using a microwave radar, an optical lidar (laser radar) and an image processing technique is proposed. A high accuracy electrical balance is also used to obtain reference data. The radar, the imaging system and the balance recorded snowfall on the ground level, while the optical lidar recorded an atmospheric profile up to 7500 m. Z-R relations obtained from simultaneous measurement of radar reflectivity factor at X band and snowfall rate are compared to the snow parameters measured directly on the ground by the video camera and the optical lidar.