Skewness as measure of the invariance of instantaneous renormalized drop diameter distributions – Part 2: Orographic precipitation

Abstract. Here we use the skewness parameter, and the procedure developed in the companion paper (Ignaccolo and De Michele, 2012), to investigate the variability of instantaneous renormalized spectra of rain drop diameter in presence of orographic precipitation. Disdrometer data, available at Bodega Bay and Cazadero, California, are analyzed either as a whole, or as divided (using the bright band echo) in precipitation intervals weakly and strongly influenced by orography, and compared to results obtained at Darwin, Australia. We find that also at Bodega Bay and Cazadero exists a most common distribution of the skewness values of instantaneous spectra of drop diameter, but peaked at values greater than 0.64, found at Darwin. No appreciable differences are found in the skewness distributions of precipitation weakly and strongly influenced by orography. However the renormalized drop diameter spectra of precipitation with strong orographic component have fatter right tail than precipitation with a weaker orographic component. The differences between orographic and non-orographic precipitation are investigated within the parametric space represented by number of drops, mean value and standard deviation of drop diameter. A filter is developed which is able to identify 1 min time intervals during which precipitation is mostly of orographic origin.