Articles | Volume 12, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3775-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3775-2018
Research article
 | 
30 Nov 2018
Research article |  | 30 Nov 2018

Evaluation of the CloudSat surface snowfall product over Antarctica using ground-based precipitation radars

Niels Souverijns, Alexandra Gossart, Stef Lhermitte, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Jacopo Grazioli, Alexis Berne, Claudio Duran-Alarcon, Brice Boudevillain, Christophe Genthon, Claudio Scarchilli, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig

Data sets

Precipitation observations at the Dumont D'Urville station, Adelie Land, East Antarctica A. Berne, J. Grazioli, and C. Genthon https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.882565

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Short summary
Snowfall observations over Antarctica are scarce and currently limited to information from the CloudSat satellite. Here, a first evaluation of the CloudSat snowfall record is performed using observations of ground-based precipitation radars. Results indicate an accurate representation of the snowfall climatology over Antarctica, despite the low overpass frequency of the satellite, outperforming state-of-the-art model estimates. Individual snowfall events are however not well represented.