An Examination of Alternate Partitioning Methods for Disdrometer Data

Historically, disdrometer data records have been divided into disjoint, equal-time intervals (often of 1- or 5-minute durations). Previous research of drop-resolving disdrometer data taken by the two-dimensional video disdrometer (Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria) has noted evidence of statistical structures on sub-minute timescales, which could lead to underestimations of rainfall variability when 1- or 5-minute partitionings are used. Here, we introduce and explore alternatives to the standard fixed-duration partitioning of disdrometer data. We compare the distributions of standard bulk rain measurements (rainfall rate and mass weighted mean diameter) under each partitioning method to demonstrate the utility of these alternative partitioning methods.