Statistics on the sizes and internal structures of rainshowers

A large sample of radar reflectivity data from essentially a full summer of operation was analyzed to determine the horizontal extents and internal structure of rain areas observed at altitude levels from 2 to 10 km. Results are given on the size distributions of individual cells or patches defined by reflectivity thresholds approximately 4 dBz apart, on the dependence of mean size on altitude and reflectivity threshold, and on the interior structure of the patches as characterized by the number and sizes of higher-threshold patches contained in each echo. In a more detailed analysis of internal structure, the data were restricted to convective echoes in which certain prescribed reflectivities, ranging from about 30 to 50 dBz, were exceeded. It was found that the dependence of mean quantities, such as patch area, on reflectivity and altitude could be approximately described by simple functions, but that the scatter of observations about the mean was usually large.