The application of advance polarimetric radar techniques to the remote sensing of precipitation is our principal research focus. A project named CLEOPATRA (Cloud Experiment Oberpfaffenhofen and Transports), to be conducted by DLR and other universities and research organizations in Germany this summer, will make available substantial in situ and other remote sensing radar data which will validate and enhance the microphysical interpretation of the new polarimetric signatures such as propagation differential phase, copolar correlation coefficient and backscatter differential phase that can be measured with the C-Band DLR radar. In addition, the project will have available one FALCON jet operated by DLR, and two vertically pointing Doppler radars which will be important for the studies proposed herein. The FALCON aircraft will have a chaff release capability for the study of entrainment by tracking chaff using the radar depolarization signature. Coordinated radar/aircraft datasets in a variety of summer-time convective precipitation of the newer polarimetric signatures ( DP, HV, .) will be studied and compared with aircraft 2D-PMS images and the vertically pointing Doppler data where applicable. Polarization transformation techniques based on covariance will be "instantaneous" scattering matrix methods which are already in progress will be checked by collecting further time series data during CLEOPATRA. We will couple our already developed Mueller matrix model to the DLR numerical cloud model (MESOSCOP) to study the variation in polarimetric signatures with modelled storm kinematics and microphysics products.
