Observations of Melting-Layer Microphysical Processes

We have characterized the microphysical processes operative in the regions from just above to just below the melting layer using aircraft in-situ microphysical measurements from several field programs. We have parameterized the particle size distributions using gamma functions. This has allowed us to examine how the intercept and slope of the PSDs vary through this layer. We have also examined how melting proceeds through the melting layer, quantifying the process. Implications of our observations for modeling the melting of snow to rain will be discussed.