Estimation of Energy Characteristics of Rainfall with an Optical Rain Gage

Tasks which require information about energy characteristics of rains and methods for acquiring this information are briefly reviewed. A technique is suggested for estimating the kinetic energy transferred by hydrometeors based on microstructural characteristics of rainfall obtained with an OPTIOS optical precipitation gage. The technique is tested with measurement data received during a heavy rainfall occurred in Tomsk on July 22, 2023. The influence of different microstructural parameters on the amount of kinetic energy brought by raindrops to the underlying surface is analyzed. The results are compared with the values obtained by simplified methods. It is concluded that the capabilities of the optical precipitation gage make it a useful tool for solving tasks where accurate assessments of rainfall energy characteristics are required.