Running HydroClass
HydroClass is implemented in the major mode of PPP in RVP10.
Alternatively, HydroClass can process any appropriate polarimetric radar data converted into IRIS RAW format. By construction, HydroClass sets minimal requirements on task parameters, while driving certain task settings to extremes may compromise meteorological performance.
Minimally, HydroClass requirements for input data (effectively, the RVP10 run-time parameters, IRIS task parameters, or input RAW characteristics) are:
- Polarization mode: H+V
- Major mode PPP
- Active data types: DBZ, Zdr, Kdp, PhiDP and RhoHV
- If HydroClass is configured to use the external melting layer height (ML), a valid ML value in RVP10, or in the RAW header structure
For uniform meteorological performance, it is recommended to:
- Constrain the observation distances at the scale of 100 km (62.1 mi); far beyond 100 km (62.1 mi), the radar observation volume is expected to contain a lot of structures, in vertical direction in particular, and unambiguous classification of hydrometeors is not well justified
- Prefer reasonable samplings (32 or more) and modest antenna speeds
- Pay balanced attention to all aspects of radar data quality (pedestal alignment, calibration of reflectivity, H- to V-channel calibration balance, noise samplings, radome quality)