Double frequency sounding of liquid precipitation

Measurement of microstructure characteristics of precipitation is very important for study of process of their formation and progress. Use of the remote sensing methods is also quite interesting especially for measurement of particle size of liquid precipitation. That is why the double frequency method for measurement of particle dimensions is quite relevant. Peculiarity of liquid precipitation is dependence of their permittivity on temperature and operating wavelength. This fact essentially complicates application of double frequency method. So the goal of this paper is analysis of the method facilities in the frequency band, which is traditionally used for radio meteorology (8 mm and 3 cm). Experimental study of proposed approach was performed for single water drop by means of Doppler double frequency radar (λ₁ =8 mm and λ₂ =3,2 cm). The special measuring bench was developed for formation of drops with different sizes. The experimental data have good repeatability ≤ 1% and measurement error is about 30 %. Thereby performed experiments confirm possibility of use of double frequency method for estimation of effective drop size of liquid precipitation and their integral characteristics water content and intensity.