Height of the 0°C Isotherm and the Melting Layer in Madrid: Comparison of Estimations from Different Sensors

Abstract

The 0°C isotherm height is used in rain attenuation prediction models to calculate the rain height, as proposed in ITU-R Recommendations. In a previous study, statistical results on the variability of the 0°C isotherm were obtained for Madrid from ten years of radiosonde measurements. Such results are compared in this paper with statistics calculated using the 0°C isotherm height provided by ERA5 climatic reanalysis. The height of the melting layer was investigated previously through the comparison of the 0°C isotherm height, considered to be the top of the melting layer, with the height of the bottom of the melting layer derived from measurements performed with a vertical Doppler radar (MRR-2). The profiles of the velocity of falling particles provided by this radar have been used recently to calculate both the top and bottom of the melting layer. The first results are presented in this paper.