How does the size of hydrometeors influence spectrum width?

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The influence of hydrometeor size on spectrum width is closely tied to terminal velocities. Different sizes of hydrometeors, such as raindrops, snowflakes, or ice crystals, fall at varying speeds due to their mass and surface area. This difference in terminal velocities contributes to the spread of Doppler velocities detected by radar.

When hydrometeors of various sizes are present in a radar volume, the Doppler shifts from these particles can show a range of velocities because of their differing terminal velocities. As a result, the spectrum width—which represents the range or spread of these velocity measurements—increases as size diversity increases. Larger particles generally fall faster than smaller ones, creating a broader distribution of velocities, which in turn raises the spectrum width.

In contrast, the other options do not accurately describe the relationship between hydrometeor size and spectrum width. The reflectivity measurement is more related to the total number and size of hydrometeors rather than their spectrum width. Variance in Doppler measures typically increases with diverse sizes rather than decreases. Lastly, homogeneous hydrometeors may not necessarily enhance accuracy in this context, as a lack of size variation would lead to narrower spectrum widths instead.

Thus, the link between differing hydrom

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