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Last update
9 Jul 2010

This page is maintained by
Mark Fielding

All content Copyright © The University of Reading unless otherwise stated.

Quicklooks from long-term observational campaigns

For the full archive of Chilbolton radar and lidar measurements click here. Some quicklooks from older studies and campaigns are detailed below. See also the CloudNet website for quicklooks of observations and model data from several remote sites around the globe.

Data at BADC

The cloud radar and lidar at Chilbolton operate round-the-clock, and much of the data is now available at the British Atmospheric Data Centre in NetCDF format (you will need to register). To read this data you may find the programs on our software page useful - please also read the radar documentation and lidar documentation. This activity is funded by the European Space Agency under the Cloud Characteristics II project.

Recent images

Images are also produced automatically as the data are taken.

Older images

    Radar reflectivity from the Rabelais and Galileo radars taken during CLARE'98 (9-23 October 1998)
    Composites of radar, lidar, rainrate and cloud cover from 25 October 1998 to 24 January 1999
    Lidar backscatter coefficient from 2 October 1998 to 28 January 1999

Quicklooks from field experiments

CWVC (1999-2001)

Images from the 3-GHz radar during the CWVC flights.

Negative KDP in thunderstorms

When negative KDP is observed in the cores of thunderstorms it indicates the vertical alignment of ice crystals. This is something that cannot occur by inertial forces alone, so indicates the presence of a strong electric field. When the orientation changes suddenly from vertical to horizontal (KDP switches from negative to positive) then it indicates a lightning strike.

See also...