ERAD 2012 - THE SEVENTH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON RADAR IN METEOROLOGY AND HYDROLOGY Measurements of a network of mobile radars during the experimental campaign of the HydroRad project Kalogiros J. 1 , Anagnostou M. 1,2 , Anagnostou E. 3 , Marzano F.S. 2,4 , Picciotti E. 5 , Cinque G. 5 , Montopoli M. 4 , Bernardini L. 5 , Volpi A. 6 , Telleschi A. 6 1 NOA National Observatory of Athens, Lofos Nymfon, Athens, Greece, e-mail: jkalog@ noa.gr 2 Department of Information Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 3 University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA, e-mail: manos@engr.uconn.edu 4 CETEMPS, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, e-mail: marzano@die.uniroma1.it 5 HIMET, Strada Statale 17 Ovest 36, L'Aquila, Italy, e-mail: errico.picciotti@himet.it 6 ELDES, Via di Porto 2/b, Firenze, Italy, e-mail: a.volpi@eldes.it John Kalogiros 1. Introduction Small size X-band polarimetric radars (hereafter called mini-radars) constitute a low-cost solution to the problem of hydrologic and flood forecast in urban, small-scale basins and coastal areas where operational weather radars cannot provide adequate coverage. Short-wavelength radar systems are more attractive also for research purposes because of their small size. Their limitations are the smaller range due to low power and the significant signal attenuation at X-band in heavy rain. In the framework of HydroRad project (Picciotti et al. 2012) an innovative dual-polarization X-band mini-radar system was developed and facilitated by a suite of software tools including rain estimation, nowcasting, precipitation classification and integration with hydrological and meteorological models for applications in weather and flood forecasting. The integrated system is described in detail by Picciotti et al. (2012), while this work presents validation of the mini-radar rainfall estimates against in situ observations and evaluates differences against a benchmark high-resolution dual-polarization X-band radar (XPol). These mini-radars are easy to deploy and, thus, ideal for the setup of radar networks to cover areas with complex terrain. The overall system was tested in an experimental campaign in Moldova, where mini-radar data were collected synergistically with XPol and in-situ rain measurements from raingauges and a disdrometer (Fig. 1). Fig. 1 One of the mini-radars (left) and the XPol mobile radar with the nearby disdrometer and raingauges (right) in the Moldova field campaign. Fig. 2 The basin of the Bic river in central Moldova. The locations of the radars are shown.