Towards a better understanding of the impact of anthropogenic aerosols in the hydrological cycle: IDRA, IRCTR drizzle radar

Human activity is known to have an important impact both in the radiation budget and the hydrological cycle. One particular aspect is the increase of anthropogenic aerosols due to changes in land use and industrial activity. However the relation between aerosols and precipitation is still far from being fully understood due to the complexity of the mechanisms involved and the lack of sound data. A multi-sensor approach, combining instruments meant to study aerosols and others meant at the study of precipitation, is required to get a better insight on this phenomenon. The International Research Centre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR) has developed a meteorological radar called IDRA (IRCTR Drizzle Radar) aimed at obtaining high resolution temporal and spatial measurements of all sorts of precipitation including those non-detectable by standard meteorological radar like drizzle. The measurements obtained by the system, coupled with data obtained by other sensors placed in the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) observatory (Cabauw, The Netherlands), are expected to provide crucial information for a better characterization of these mechanisms. The information obtained can be used for a better spatial planning in order to reduce the impact of human activity in the climate. aper describes the relevant characteristics of the system, its signal processing and the products obtained.