Scaling properties of raindrop size distributions as measured by a dense array of optical disdrometers

•Fractal dimension does not vary between instruments within a dense detector array.•Interstorm variability of fractal dimension can be substantial.•Fractal dimension consistently decreases monotonically with increasing drop size.•Fractal dimension is not well correlated to bulk rainfall variables. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hydrology (Amsterdam) 2015-02, Vol.521, p.424-432
Main Authors: Larsen, Michael L., Hayward, Timothy B., Teves, Joshua B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
Box-counting fractal dimension
Disdrometer
Drop size
Fractal analysis
Fractals
Optical properties
Power law distribution
Raindrop size distributions
Raindrops
Sampling
Scaling
Storms
Winter
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Summary:•Fractal dimension does not vary between instruments within a dense detector array.•Interstorm variability of fractal dimension can be substantial.•Fractal dimension consistently decreases monotonically with increasing drop size.•Fractal dimension is not well correlated to bulk rainfall variables. A dense network of optical disdrometers with 1min resolution was utilized through the winter months of 2013–2014 in South Carolina, USA, to explore the manner in which box-counting fractal dimension is related to drop size. Ten storms of a duration exceeding eight hours were selected for detailed analysis. It was discovered that detector-to-detector variation within each storm was negligible, though storm-to-storm variability could be substantial. The box-counting fractal dimension was found to decrease with increasing drop size, suggesting that large drops are more temporally clustered than small drops. Implications for raindrop sampling are discussed.
ISSN:0022-1694
1879-2707
DOI:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.12.016