Cloud and Precipitation Profiling Radars: The First Combined W- and K-Band Radar Profiler Measurements in Italy

Clouds cover substantial parts of the Earth’s surface and they are one of the most essential components of the global climate system impacting the Earth’s radiation balance as well as the water cycle redistributing water around the globe as precipitation. Therefore, continuous observation of clouds is of primary interest in climate and hydrological studies. This work documents the first efforts in Italy in remote sensing clouds and precipitation using a combination of K- and W-band (24 and 94 GHz, respectively) radar profilers. Such a dual-frequency radar configuration has not been widely used yet, but it could catch on in the near future given its lower initial cost and ease of deployment for commercially available systems at 24 GHz, with respect to more established configurations. A field campaign running at the Casale Calore observatory at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, nestled in the Apennine mountain range is described. The campaign features are preceded by a review of the literature and the underpinning theoretical background that might help newcomers, especially in the Italian community, to approach cloud and precipitation remote sensing. This activity takes place in interesting time for radar sensing clouds and precipitation, stimulated both by the launch of the ESA/JAXA EarthCARE satellite missions scheduled in 2024, which will have on-board, among other instruments, a W-band Doppler cloud radar and the proposal of new missions using cloud radars currently undergoing their feasibility studies (e.g., WIVERN and AOS in Europe and Canada, and U.S., respectively).