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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-1706</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Measurement Report: Aircraft-Ground Observation Study of a Spring Snowstorm Event in the North China Plain: Cloud Microphysical Characteristics and Precipitation Vertical Structure</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Song</surname>
<given-names>Can</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Peng</surname>
<given-names>Chong</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Bai</surname>
<given-names>Ting</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Honglei</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Huang</surname>
<given-names>Yimei</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ding</surname>
<given-names>Jianfang</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Liu</surname>
<given-names>Yanhua</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Shao</surname>
<given-names>Zhenping</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sha</surname>
<given-names>Xiuzhu</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Henan Key Laboratory of Agrometeorological Support and Applied Technique, CMA, Zhengzhou, 450003, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Weather Modification Center of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, 450003, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>China Meteorological Administration Aerosol-Cloud and Precipitation Key Laboratory, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>04</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>23</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Can Song et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1706/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1706/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1706/egusphere-2026-1706.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1706/egusphere-2026-1706.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Studies on the characteristics of snowfall cloud systems contribute to understanding the mechanisms of snow formation and development. In this study, based on observations from King Air 350 and ground&amp;ndash;based radar, the microphysical characteristics and vertical structure of precipitation during a spring snowstorm with thunderstorm on March 16, 2023 in the North China Plain are investigated. High concentrations of ice crystals (up to 131.1 L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;) and limited small-scale cloud droplets (less than 10 cm&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;) was observed in the stratiform cloud area. In regions with heavy snowfall and elevated thunderstorm, the liquid water content in the upper cloud layer (&amp;sim;-18 &amp;deg;C) is significantly higher than in other areas. Precipitations in these regions exhibited a vertical structure of aggregates and vertical ice crystals above, supercooled water in the middle, and graupel below. During the mid-phase of precipitation in Shangqiu, snow particles partially melted within the warm layer (1.8&amp;ndash;2.4 km), increasing the equivalent reflectance factor (&lt;em&gt;Z&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;e&lt;/sub&gt;) and doppler velocity (&lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt;). And then it refreeze in the sub-zero temperature zone and finally completely melt into liquid droplets below 0.7 km. In the early and late stages, snow melting into wet snowflakes below 0.5 km significantly enhanced the &lt;em&gt;Z&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;e&lt;/sub&gt;, &lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt; and spectrum width (&lt;em&gt;W&lt;/em&gt;). During the late stage, updrafts promoted ice crystal growth and accumulation at 1.5&amp;ndash;2.3 km, leading to a peak in &lt;em&gt;Z&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;e&lt;/sub&gt; and positive value of &lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt;. The vertical structure and phase evolution of precipitation revealed here are significant for understanding the microphysical processes during hydrometeors falling, providing insights to improve precipitation type prediction accuracy.</p>
</abstract>
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