Precipitation disdrometer at C1 from October 2013 to May 2016

An OTT Parsivel Disdrometer is used to generate detailed precipitation information on the fall speeds and sizes of hydrometeors at the Niwot Ridge C1 site. This disdrometer data aids in the quantification of rain and snowfall microstructure allowing users of the data to investigate the influence that hydrometeor characteristics have on precipitation accumulation rates, streamflow/runoff, precipitation gauge errors, and radar reflectivity-rain/snow rate relationships (these are current uses of the data but there are many more possibilities). Parameters, such as intensity of precipitation, radar reflectivity, and visibility, are derived from the particle size and speed quantities and are complimentary to the other precipitation instrumentation at C1. The type of precipitation is derived from empirical relationships of fall speeds and volume-equivalent diameters and is useful for determining transitions between rain, graupel, snow, etc. The disdrometer at C1 fits into the larger goal of improving our understanding of orographic precipitation and the hydrometeorological dynamics at play on the eastern slopes of the Colorado Front Range.