Natural oscillations of small raindrops

REMOTE sensing of the rate of rainfall and the characteristics of hydrometeors with polarimetric radars is based on the assumption that the eccentricity of raindrops increases predictably with drop size 1–3 . Field observations, however, have shown that a particular raindrop size can have a wide ran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1989-11, Vol.342 (6248), p.408-410
Main Authors: Beard, Kenneth V, Ochs, Harry T, Kubesh, Rodney J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Meteorology
multidisciplinary
Rain
Science
Storms
Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
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Summary:REMOTE sensing of the rate of rainfall and the characteristics of hydrometeors with polarimetric radars is based on the assumption that the eccentricity of raindrops increases predictably with drop size 1–3 . Field observations, however, have shown that a particular raindrop size can have a wide range of shapes 4,5 because of oscillations thought to be caused by drop collisions. Here we report observations of the shapes of small raindrops in circumstances where oscillations might occur sympathetically with eddy shedding in the drop's wake. The analysis of oscillations was aided by measurements of oscillation frequency, based on variations in rainbow angle and comparisons of mode energies. Our observations agree with quiescent shapes only for drops
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/342408a0