One of the most commonly used methods of liquid atomization is the rotary atomization. In this process a radially spreading thin liquid film is created on a surface of a rotating disk, due to centrifugal forces. The liquid flows over the disk edge and disintegrates. The liquid film is mostly wavy. The radially propagating waves induce fluctuations resulting in an expansion of the drop size distribution after atomization. An experimental apparatus has been built to investigate the effect of the film dynamics on the atomization process. A water jet is impinging at the center of a rotating disk made of stainless steel. The local instantaneous film thickness is measured using a confocal chromatic sensoring technique. The drop sizes are determined using the shadowgraphy method. The film flow on the rotating disk has been investigated in a wide range of parameters. The strongly wavy structure of the film flow has been observed for all sets of parameters. The development of waves depends on the nozzle-to-disk distance. The radial distribution of the time-averaged film thickness over the disk surface agrees fairly well with the correlations found in the literature. First results of the drop size distribution show a bimodal distribution for low liquid mass flow rates.