| Gages and snow pillows are used to monitor snowfall throughout the Rocky Mountain region. A disadvantage of these systems is that region-wide snow amounts are extrapolated from point measurements. Radars offer an alternative to this approach; they measure backscattered microwave energy (Z), from which snowfall rate (S) can be estimated with high spatial and temporal resolution. The accuracy of radar-estimated snowrates hinge on the parameterization used to relate Z to S. This work focuses on the development of a Z-S parameterization for the National Weather Service radar operated in Cheyenne, WY. Since temperature can influence both Z and S, a temperature-dependent Z-S parameterization is developed. The Z-S parameterizations are based on measurements made with the Cheyenne, WY Weather Surveillance Radar and a heated-plate snowrate sensor. The latter was operated at a site located 25 km northwest of Cheyenne; data was collected in winter orographic snowstorms between January and March 2006. |
