Listing of parameters for S-Pol and S-PolKa data sets, varying by format
S-Pol (or S-PolKa) is capable of producing a large number of parameters. The complement of parameters will vary with each deployment, depending upon the desires of the Principal Investigator, or the data requestor. A fairly comprehensive list of variables is provided, below, for netCDF, DORADE or a UF data set. Parameters are identified as belonging to the S-band or Ka-band subsystem.
Note that there can be some ambiguity in the Ka variable names, depending upon whether the Ka used simultaneous H/V transmit, or just a single polarization upon transmit. For RICO, the Ka band performed simultaneous H and V transmit, with separate receivers for the H and V return power. Also, UF variable names have not been established for the Ka variables (the table notes these as "unk").
There have been no Ka-band data sets created since the switch to the newer netCDF format. Ka-band netCDF parameter names are as yet undefined, and are left blank in the table. Note that, for netCDF (or the forthcoming CF-Radial format), the data files themselves can be inspected through use of a tool such as ncdump, and this would then show the short- and long-names for the variables.
The approximate period of validity for this table is 2004 through 2010, although inferences can be made for parameter names outside of this time period.
Present in
netCDF
Name
DORADE
Name
UF
Name
Units
Parameter Description
S-band
Ka-band
Note: the complement of possible parameters will vary by project and processor code version.
X
CDBZ
CDBZ
CD
dBZ
S-band coherent reflectivity
X
DBZ
DBZ
DB or DZ
dBZ
S-band reflectivity
X
DBMVC
DL
DL
dBm
S-band Vertical received power (co-polar: V-tx, V-rec)
X
DBMHC
DM
DM
dBm
S-band Horizontal received power (co-polar: H-tx, H-rec)
X
DBMVX
DW
DW
dBm
S-band cross-polar received power (V-tx, H-rec or HV)
X
DBMHX
DX
DX
dBm
S-band cross-polar received power (H-tx, V-rec or VH)
X
DY
DY
dBZ
S-band co-polar reflectivity (V-tx, V-rec or VV)
X
LDRH
LDR
LD
dB
S-band depolarization ratio (H-tx, V-rec, or VH)
X
LDRV
LVDR
LV
dB
S-band depolarization ratio (V-tx, H-rec, or HV)
X
LDR_VH_K
unk
dB
Ka-band depolarization ratio (H-tx, V-rec, or VH) (N/A RICO)
(special note: H-polarization for Ka is often tipped up to 22 degrees off of horizontal in LDR mode)
X
NCP
NCP
NC
none
S-band normalized coherent power (HH)
X
NCP_HH_K
unk
none
Ka-band normalized coherent power (HH)
X
PHIDP
PHIDP
PH
deg
S-band differential phase
X
P_HH_K
unk
dBm
Ka-band co-polar received power (H-tx, H-rec or HH)
X
P_VV_K
unk
dBm
Ka-band co-polar received power (V-tx, V-rec)
X
RHOHV
RHOHV
RH
none
S-band Correlation coefficient between HH, VV
X
RHO_VH_K
unk
none
Ka-band Correlation coefficient between HH, VV
X
WIDTH
SW
SW
m/s
S-band co-polar spectrum width (computed from both SW_HH and SW_VV)
X
SW_HH_K
unk
m/s
Ka-band co-polar spectrum width (HH)
X
TH_VH_K
unk
deg
Ka-band differential phase (PHIDP of Ka) (not yet evaluated for utility)
X
VEL
VR
VR
m/s
S-band co-polar radial velocity (computed from both V_HH and V_VV using the CSU algorithms)