A study on the characterization of sprays from Newtonian liquids produced by pressure-swirl atomizers is presented. The global drop size spectra of the sprays are measured with phase-Doppler anemometry, and global mean drop sizes are derived as moments of the spectra for varying atomizer geometry, liquid flow rate, and physical properties of the liquids. Dimensional analysis provides a correlation for the non-dimensional global Sauter mean diameter. A relationship between the global Sauter mean drop size and the global drop size RMS is established. A method is developed for predicting the global drop size spectra in the sprays, using easily accessible experimental input parameters. The basis for the function defining the spectrum is a gamma distribution, which is known from the literature as physically relevant for ligament-mediated sprays. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.