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Guide Through EUMeTrain Resources
EUMeTrain
Select a Chapter:
Chapter VII: Meteorological products and applications derived from satellite data
Meteorological products and applications derived from satellite data
Satellite data is the basis for many meteorological applications to monitor ongoing processes and phenomena in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface. The wide variety of products and applications derived from satellite data is reflected in the large number of subchapters of this section.
This chapter contains most of the training material elaborated in the frame of EUMeTrain. The topics of the learning resources have been sorted by alphabetic order, the most recent resources are put on top of each sub-chapter.
Altimetry (2)
Atmospheric stability (5)
Atmospheric waves (4)
Avalanches (3)
Clouds and cloud physics (5)
Convection (25)
Dust, ash and smog (8)
Fire monitoring (8)
Fog and low clouds (15)
Hydrology (Floods) (5)
Land applications (Soil moisture, LST, droughts, landslides,...) (13)
Ocean applications (Waves, SST, ice,...) (13)
SAFs (35)
Satellite derived winds (9)
Trace gases (6)
Altimeter Wave and Wind data for Mariners and Scientific Community (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2018
Altimeter data have been used to produce maps of sea surface height, geostrophic velocity, significant wave height and wind speed. This information is of proven use to mariners as well as to the scientific community. Uses of the data include commercial and recreational vessel routing, ocean acoustics, input to geographic information systems developed for the fishing industry, identification of marine mammal habitats, fisheries management and monitoring ocean debris. Such information is accessible in near-real time (within 3 to 48 hours) and to improve weather forecasting models by assimilation. 25 years of data makes it possible to study the whole ocean or regional areas for offshore industries or navigation. In hurricane studies altimetry measures very high waves and strong winds, but also helps identify sea surface height anomalies which can be used as proxies of the warm currents - hurricanes energy source. The lecture will describe how altimeters work, how data is used for everyday marine forecasting at NOAA and assimilation, devoting special attention to data accuracy and limitations.
Ocean Surface Winds and Sea Level Altimetry (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
In his presentation, Nuno Moreira focuses on sea surface wind data retrieved from the ASCAT instrument onboard of the MetOp satellite. He shows the wind data in the vicinity of the ITCZ and adds the Severe Storm RGB as additional source of information. Particular attention is laid on the Dust RGB, an interpretation of the relevant colours is given. Sergio Muacho focuses on Jason-2 satellite data. He compares the sea level altimetry data with the ECMWF wave model, pointing out some unusual situations where discrepancies between the two data sources became evident. Two case studies are shown, revealing the importance of having reliable data sources of sea level winds and wave heights. The presentation finishes with an excursion to the repartition of chlorophyll in the southern Atlantic sea.
Atmospheric Stability
Global Instability Index (Webcast, 17 minutes), 2011
The European geostationary Meteosat Second Generation satellite (MSG) offers a variety of channels to use for various purposes, including nowcasting of convection. A number of applications have also been developed to make use of these new capabilities for nowcasting, especially for the detection and prediction of severe weather. The MSG infrared channel selection makes it possible to assess the air stability in pre-convective, i.e. still cloud free, conditions. Instability indices are traditionally derived from radiosonde profiles. Such indices typically combine measures of the thermal and the moisture properties and often only use a small quantity of vertical profile parameters. MSG based temperature and moisture retrievals are used for the derivation of stability indices, which are a part of the MSG meteorological products derived centrally at EUMETSAT. Such indices are of highly empirical nature and are often only applicable to certain geographic regions, but they can assess the likelihood of convection within the next few hours. Numerous test cases and the more quantitative verification process that was initiated by the South African Weather Service show the generally good warning potential of the derived instability fields. The added capability of a continuous monitoring of the instability fields that is guaranteed by MSG's 15-minute repeat cycle is most valuable, since it provides nowcasters with new information much more regularly than the twice-a-day soundings at only limited number of stations. The current EUMETSAT instability product is aimed at helping a forecaster to focus his attention to a certain region, which he can then monitor more closely with other means like satellite imagery and radar data over the next hours.
Use of RII in Slovakia and synoptic patterns favoring convection in Italy (Webcast, 60 minutes, 2009
In 2008 the Slovakian Meteorological Institute (SHMU) has successfully implemented GII in their forecasting room. The difference being that the ALADIN model is used which provides a higher resolution being helpful to the forecasters. Jan Kanak will present this concept and show some examples.
This talk will be followed by Teodoro La Rocca from Italy on the use of air masses classification in the identification of synoptic conditions favorable to the development of convective phenomena.
Deep Moisture Convection and use of GII in South Africa (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2009
Christo Georgiev from the Bulgarian Meteorological Service will talk about Deep moisture convection (DMC) with the thermodynamic context as seen in WV channels 6.2 and 7.3 of Meteosat Second Generation.
The talk will be followed by a practical session done by Estelle de Coning from the South African Weather Service who will talk about the successful implementation of GII (Global Instability Index) and the operational use of it, at their weather service using their model as first guess.
GII and Nowcasting Convection at KNMI (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
Marianne Koenig (EUMETSAT) demonstrated the GII product. For the forecaster this was a very interesting talk as it showed the advantages the use of GII has to a model. Case studies saw the potential the GII product has and which added value(!) the GII has to a normal model run.
The lecture was followed by Maurice Schmeitz from KNMI on the development and verification of a new model output statistics (MOS) system, which is intended to help the forecasters to decide whether a weather alarm for severe thunderstorms should be issued.
GII and Tornadoes in Finland (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
Marianne Koenig (EUMETSAT) demonstrated the GII product. For the forecaster this was a very interesting talk as it showed the advantages the use of GII has to a model. Case studies saw the potential the GII product has and which added value(!) the GII has to a normal model run. The session was followed by Jenni Teittinen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute who talked about warnings and the assessment of warnings in Finland.
Atmospheric waves
Gravity wave pattern and tropopause fold detection as new products within the Nowcasting-SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2018
Two new satellite-derived products related to turbulence analysis have been developed recently in the frame of the Nowcasting-SAF. The first product (ASII-GW "Automatic Satellite Image Interpretation - Gravity Waves") objectively detects grating patterns in the water vapor 7.3 imagery which point to the presence of gravity waves. The second product (ASII-TF "Automatic Satellite Image Interpretation - Tropopause Folding") identifies the location of tropopause folds from satellite and NWP data. The algorithm is based on the logistic regression method.
In this presentation, we will talk about the selected algorithms and present cases from the official Nowcasting-SAF validation reports (to be released shortly) to illustrate the product performance.
Forecasting turbulence and mountain waves for aviation meteorology purposes (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2018
Turbulence is a hazardous weather phenomenon for aviation and a challenge for a forecaster. It is typically a small-scale phenomenon and its direct observations and measurements are relatively sparse, except of the surface layer of the atmosphere. The presentation shows a possibility of turbulence diagnostics with aid of the Turbulence Kinetic Energy (TKE) calculated from a high-resolution non-hydrostatic model AROME. This parameter is calculated from a prognostic equation and it is only rarely applied as an end-product in operational forecasting. We studied the distribution of TKE in various meteorological situations, with focus on the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions. Both advantages and limits of the TKE diagnostics are discussed. High attention is also given to forecasting of mountain waves, which can have both positive and negative impact on the flight. A development work based on this theory is in progress at the Unit of Aviation Meteorology resulting in new products for the mountain wave gliding branch of sport aviation.
Gravity Waves (Training Module, 120 minutes), 2017
This module treats all kinds of atmospheric wave phenomena, starting with Lee Waves and ending with Vortex Streets. The physical background of Gravity Waves in general and Lee Waves in special will be highlighted and special cases, such as Foehn clouds, treated in more details. Gravity waves over the oceans build another focal point of this module. At the end of each chapter, exercises will help you to check the acquired knowledge.
Clear Air Turbulence (Training Module, 60 minutes), 2014
Clear Air Turbulence is one of the most frequent hazards for civil aviation. It is also one of the biggest challenges for forecasters to detect and warn for possible Clear Air Turbulence occurrence.
In this CAL module you will learn to detect areas with a high risk for Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). This will be done with the help of satellite images, soundings, flight reports and analyses of the airflow. Practical examples will show you how to apply your knowledge.
Avalanche Warning and Weather Forecast (Webcast, 44 minutes), 2017
In this presentation Gernot Zenkl presents us the work of avalanche forecasters in the Alpine regions of Austria. He describes us how the stations are maintained, what kind of measurements are done and what models are used for this kind of forecast. In general, there are 7 synoptic situations or patterns that affect the Alpine areas and which the forecasters should be aware about. At the end Gernot analyzes three avalanche cases, he describes the damage done, the forecasting and the issued warnings.
Avalanches (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2014
In this presentation one could see a short overview of the interesting and challenging work as an avalanche forecaster. Gernot Zenkl has shown which types of meteorological situation can lead to critical avalanche situations in the eastern Alps. Furthermore, he explained the methods we use to inform and warn the people.
Avalanche forecasting in Austria (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Hannes Rieder from ZAMG, Austria who will provide a presentation on the interesting forecasting challenges associated with avalanches in Styria.
Space Weather and the impact on aviation and air traffic (Webcast, 55 minutes), 2018
In the field of aviation, the space weather plays an increasingly important role. Due to economic factors, flights in the higher latitudes, respectively in the polar regions, continue to increase year by year. In my presentation, which I divided into three parts, I would like to explain the term of space weather or the cosmic radiation. In the second part, I will give a brief overview of the individual components of space weather. The third part, which at the same time represents the main part of the lecture, I will present why the number of flights in the polar regions is strongly increasing and which dangers by the space weather on the air traffic and the passengers or the cabin crews can arise.
Forecasting for ballooning (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2018
Aviation meteorology is a wide field in terms of forecasting and forecasting product. Not only is there a big difference between the civil aviation part and General Aviation (GA), but also in GA there are a lot of specific customers who needs specific forecasts; VFR forecasts for small planes, gliding, paragliding, ultra-lights, ballooning etc.
Ballooning forecasts can also differ, e.g. the commercial balloonists need other forecasts than balloonists in competitions and championships and gas balloons can fly in weather circumstances where it is impossible for hot air balloons.
In the presentation it will be shown which items are of main importance for balloon forecast e.g. accurate wind forecasts, starting and dying out of thermals and convection. And also how surface observations, radio soundings, satellite and radar can be of help.
Analysis and Automated Detection of Convection-Induced Aviation Weather Hazards in Visible and Infrared Satellite Imagery (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2018
Current generation geostationary satellites are observing convection that is hazardous to aviation at increasingly high spatio-temporal detail. In recent years, commercial and research aircraft have collected automated turbulence and cloud ice water content observations that can be used to better understand exactly where within deep convection the turbulence and icing conditions are typically occurring. Ground-based weather radar and severe weather reports also identify locations of hail, downburst wind, and tornadoes. Research conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), in collaboration with a number of U.S. and international partners, has resulted in geostationary-based analyses and automated detection algorithms that can denote where turbulence, icing, and severe weather conditions are likely. These methods are applicable to any geostationary visible and IR imager across the globe and therefore can be used to map these weather hazards in nearreal time, a capability that is especially valuable over regions without weather radars and other conventional observations of aviation hazards.
Forecast of Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) with Satellite Images and the ICON model, based on Eddy Dissipation Rate (Webcast, 40 minutes), 2018
Clear air turbulence (CAT) is the term for medium- or high-level turbulence in regions with significant wind shear. CAT is an important factor for the aviation safety.
In the first part of the presentation, I will show you typical parts of CAT in relation with the 300 hPa geopotential analysis. Furthermore, you get an overview to the correlation between CAT and characteristic cloud patterns in satellite images. In many cases satellite images provide the first clue or a confirmation for the presence auf CAT.
The second part is dedicated the forecast of CAT in Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) with the ICON model. DWD has been applying a forecast method based on Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR). This real property of atmospheric turbulence is the main sink term of Turbulent Kinetic Energy. In a case study you will see the typical working process in practice with consideration of the model output, typical cloud pattern in satellite image and the use of the conceptual model and the structure of geopotential field.
The high IWC (Ice Water Content) Hazard for aviation and satellite retrieval (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2018
Large amount of ice particle may cause erroneous aircraft probe measurement and damage aircraft engines. The ice crystals are generally located near cores of deep convection and associated cirrus anvils, at high altitude and in tropical areas. The understanding of the phenomena and its forecast are a key issue for aviation. There are several methods to detect clouds associated with ice crystal icing: MSG-CPP High IWC Mask, DARDAR, PHIWC, Alpha, RDT (detects and tracks convective systems).
A series of fields experiment in tropical regions have been conducted separately or conjointly by HAIC and HIWC projects. During HAIC campaigns, RDT has been provided on an operational basis through dedicated MétéoFrance processing chains. Qualitative and quantitative studies provided reasonably good results, especially in terms of probability of detection.
A new day-time attribute (adapted from MSG-CPP High IWC Mask algorithm) has been implemented in RDT v2016. Now RDT is produced globally by using five geostationary satellites, which in turn increased operational applications. New generation of satellites and the feedback on products performance will help to improve retrieval of the hazard and to define future research fields.
Forecasting fog and low clouds in aviation weather service (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2018
In this presentation formation and dissipation of fog and stratus will be treated. The presenters will also address how these phenomena occur around the year and how they affect the services at the airports in Finland.
Icing (Training Module, 120 minutes), 2012
Ice formation on wings and inside of the jet engine of planes causes around 15% of weather related aircraft accidents. Most icing occurs inside cumulonimbus clouds when supercooled droplets freeze with contact of the aircraft body. But also in stratiform clouds icing represents a major threat to aircrafts during landing and take-off phase. In this CAL module, icing hazards related to stratiform clouds are examined. The introductory chapter focuses on the different types of icing and the physical principles leading to ice formation on aircrafts. Satellite products from geostationary and polar orbiting satellites help differentiating between ice and water clouds. A sample of satellite images and products illustrates this capability. Additional data sources like radio soundings and radar imagery are useful completions to the satellite data. Interpretation of radio soundings in view of icing occurrence is the main topic of chapter 4. The usefulness of radar data for detecting ice clouds is demonstrated. Three case studies complement the theoretical part of the training module, showing typical weather situations where severe icing represented a serious threat to aircrafts in the past. These case studies combine the above mentioned data sources in the frame of a practical situation. The CAL module finishes on a suggested procedure for nowcasting icing from stratiform clouds. Exercises offering the possibility to test the acquired knowledge form the end of this module.
Caveats in validating the aerosol-climate models with satellite retrievals and in-situ observations (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
The aerosols have recently been incorporated into increasing number of global climate models. Aerosol models in global climate models are validated using variety of ground-based observations and satellite retrievals. Both data have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, in-situ observations of particle size and composition give exact information on the aerosol distribution for small regions on the ground while satellite retrievals give a broader view on the global distribution of aerosols. In both cases the rather coarse spatial and temporal resolution of the global models increase the difficulty of using these data for their validation. I will demonstrate the limitations of the satellite retrievals and in-situ observations when comparing with models and demonstrate how, for example, collocation of the data can help to improve the match between models and observations.
Cloud Physical Properties Based Precipitation Products for Weather and Climate Applications (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
This lecture presents the concept, the validity, and the applicability, of the method developed at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to calculate precipitation occurrence and intensity from cloud physical properties retrieved from passive imager satellite data onboard geostationary satellites.
A brief introduction will be given on the concept of the cloud physical properties retrievals and the precipitation retrievals, as well as an underpinning why cloud physical properties are pre-eminently suitable for quantitative precipitation retrievals. The validity of the precipitation retrievals will be demonstrated for Europe (and Africa), using weather radar and gridded rain-gauge data to perform a triple-collocation statistical evaluation. For this evaluation, the precipitation retrievals are derived using the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) onboard Meteosat Second Generation satellites, the weather radar data are obtained from the common European integrated weather radar system, and the gridded rain gauge observations are obtained from the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) and/or the European Climate Assessment and Data set (ECA&D). The spatial and temporal dependence of the respective errors are presented and discussed.
The results suggest that the gridded rain-gauge datasets agree very well with the precipitation retrievals from SEVIRI, while they agree weakly with the weather radar observations. Part of these differences is caused by the fact that the weather radar products are based on different radars and algorithms, whereas the precipitation retrievals from SEVIRI have the advantage to be based on a single instrument. Since observations from single weather radar can be used to determine temporal variations in precipitation it is concluded that these observations are best suited for studying the diurnal or seasonal variations at a local scale.
The lecture will conclude with some examples for using the precipitation retrievals from SEVIRI for specific weather and climate applications.
Climatology of Snow Cover and Snow Water Equivalent (Training Module, 120 minutes), 2015
Snow cover is an important climate variable on both local and global scales. It affects the planetary radiation budget through high albedo values. It influences the hydrological cycle globally and locally, and for many locations it is an important source of water. In this module you will learn how snow cover and snow water equivalent are determined by satellite instruments and how this data can be applied for regional climate studies.
Climatology of High Impact Weather I (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2014
Climate extremes were discussed in the context of the observed climate change and associated trends. The issue of attributing specific weather extreme to climate change was stressed. Several impacts on human activities was presented and estimated economical and human losses due to the weather and climate extremes were compared over different regions.
Climatology of High Impact Weather II (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2014
Zanita Avotniece gave a brief presentation on the use of satellite data for climate applications and introduced an online satellite-based climate viewer that has been published recently.
WWW-Briefing - South America (Webcast, 55 minutes), 2013
Humberto A. Barbosa received his BS in Meteorology at the University Federal of Campina Grande (1995), and his MS in Remote Sensing from the Brazilian Institute for Spatial Research (INPE) - São José dos Campos (1998) and his PhD in Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences from the University of Arizona - Tucson (2004). Currently, he is an adjunct professor III of the Federal University of Alagoas. He has experience in the area of Geosciences, with emphasis in Climatology, concentrating mainly on the following subjects: interactions atmosphere-biosphere, satellite- and ground-based remote sensing of agricultural and environmental areas for extraction of soil and vegetation biophysical parameters and remote sensing techniques.
The Ocean Climate Dataset HOAPS (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data (HOAPS) climatology provides information on various atmospheric and oceanic parameters for the period 1987 - 2006 covering the global ice-free oceans. This presentation gives an overview on the HOAPS climate dataset ranging from technical information, such as spatial resolution, time resolution, sensors used, climate variables covered by the dataset, accuracy of the data to some real world application examples.
Global operational ATOVS Products (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
In addition to the HOAPS climate dataset that provides data over the ice free ocean, CM SAF also provides operational global products on water vapour and temperature for different layers of the atmosphere. Those operational products are available from 2004 until present with a maximum delay of 8 weeks between the measurement and the availability of the products. The temperature and humidity products are introduced together with the most important technical details and some application examples.
The AVHRR Global Climate Dataset (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
The so called Global Area Coverage (GAC) climate dataset, derived from AVHRR data, provides information on cloud and radiation parameters from 1982 - 2009 covering the entire globe. This presentation gives an overview on the GAC dataset ranging from technical information, such as spatial resolution, time resolution, sensors used, climate variables covered by the dataset, accuracy of the data to some real world application examples.
Satellite Data in Climate Monitoring (Training Module, 60 minutes), 2008
Training module developed by the Climate Satellite Application Facility on the use of satellite data for climate monitoring. The module also explains which various products exist and how you can obtain these.
Clouds and cloud physics
Retrieval of cloud physical properties from MSG-SEVIRI and use for studying convection (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Within the CM SAF we have developed an algorithm for the retrieval of daytime cloud physical properties from MSG-SEVIRI. This algorithm and the retrieval products will be described. Furthermore, applications will be discussed with a focus on convection.
SEVIRI Physical Retrieval products of NWCSAF (Product Tutorial, 120 minutes), 2015
The purpose of this tutorial is to help the reader understand and use the SEVIRI Physical Retrieval (SPhR) product. SPhR's purpose is to provide information on convective environmental parameters, particularly on moisture content and atmospheric instability. These parameters are crucial in studying the potential for deep convection, and in predicting the development of convective clouds. Moisture, instability and a lifting (trigger) mechanism are needed for the formation of deep convection.
Cloud Retrieval Methods (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
Karl-Göran Karlsson speaks in this presentation of the CM SAF products about the inherent problems detecting clouds in satellite imagery. He explains the used approaches and algorithms and analyses the shortcomings of the used methods in twilight and cold winter situations. Then he comes to speak about cloud top determination. This task is more difficult than cloud detection and requires sophisticated methods depending on radiative transfer calculations. The last part of the presentation is dedicated to the analysis of cloud properties on the microscale. Here, the near infra-red channels offer possibilities to discriminate between ice and water phase. The CM SAF uses here methods developed by KNMI.
Effective Radius with MSG and the Automatic Weather and Product Monitoring (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
Guy Kelman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) explained the relationship between cloud top temperature and effective radius and emphasized the advantage this can have on the lead time and the possibility to nowcast areas with a high potential of severe convection. The session was followed by Wilfried Jacobs (DWD) on the Automatic weather and product monitoring (Automon).
Effective Radius with MSG and Nowcasting Convection at DHMZ (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
Guy Kelman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) also showed some more examples of nowcasting convection over the States. The session was followed by a very good presentation of Natasa Strelec Mahovic (DHMZ) who in depth presented what material and products the Forecaster have available in Croatia when they start their working day and the day turns out to be convective.
Convection and Severe Weather (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Next to sufficient instability, strong vertical wind shear is the main driver that promotes thunderstorms to organize into multicells, supercells or lines, which are more probable to attain a longer lifetime and to produce severe weather phenomena like hail or wind gusts. The role of vertical wind shear in storm organization is explained in this presentation, and selected case studies illustrate how favorable conditions for severe storms can evolve either by large-scale processes or, more challenging for forecasters, by local modifications of the wind systems and associated temperature and humidity changes.
Convection in the Alps (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Mountainous regions tend to be the starting point for convective developments due to their elevated heat sources, the topographic amplifying factor or their role as a flow obstacle. In this presentation different synoptic situations and the consequent convection will be analyzed in the Alpine region on the hand of case studies.
Hydro-SAF Future Developments on Convective Rainfall (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
In the presentation the recent upgrades and future developments of the H-SAF products for the monitoring of convective precipitation will be highlighted. The application of a new version of NEFODINA, a tool developed by CNMCA for the detection of convective systems, will be introduced and different improvements such as the application of a calibration formula and the release of new products versions, developed for monitoring the MSG SEVIRI full disk area, will be shown.
Using SEVIRI clear-sky moisture retrievals to NearCasting environments in which severe convection is likely and not likely to occur (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Delineating areas where convection is most/least likely to develop can be difficult, especially in the next 3-9 hours. Knowing how forecasts can extend the usefulness of SEVIRI products from observations to forecasts can be equally challenging. This talk discusses a new forecast tool that addresses a number of questions: How can SEVIRI products be used to monitor and predict areas that are becoming more/less supportive for development of convection? Will the details in the SEVIRI observations be retained by short-range forecast tool? How do the derived SEVIRI forecast products relate to standard satellite forecasting conventions? Can IR satellite observations still be useful after convection has begun and clouds have formed? Are the SEVIRI projections useful for monitoring NWP performance?
Monitoring Convective Clouds with COMS at KMA (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Firstly, the characteristics of synoptic weather which convective cloud occurs over eastern Asian region will be mentioned and the thunderstorm monitoring system with radar data which KMA forecasters use will be also introduced. And then I will present our convective cases and explain them with satellite, radar and other NWP data.
Environments of non-severe and severe Thunderstorm in Central Europe (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
The environments of non-severe and severe thunderstorms in Central Europe were studied using 16421 proximity soundings acquired in the period from December 2007 to December 2013. In this presentation, we will concentrate on different sounding-derived parameters and how their values change with the increasing severity of thunderstorm-related hazards (large hail, severe wind gusts, tornadoes, excessive precipitation). For example, we show that probability of these hazards as a function of CAPE and 0-6 km bulk shear is different for each hazard. We also present implications for forecasters, such as that area of parameter space with the highest probability of a particular hazard may not collocate with the area where it is most frequent.
Cold-season derechos across Central Europe (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
The presentation gives an overview of cold-season derechos that occurred across Central Europe between 1997 and 2014. The environmental conditions leading to persistent, intense thunderstorms and associated long-track high wind events are analysed using reanalysis data and proximity soundings. A focus is the development of deep moist convection in initially stable air masses due to synoptic-scale processes.
A Recipe for Thunderstorms (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2014
This talk offered an insight into the ingredients-based forecasting method, which assists an operational forecaster in preparing well ahead of an active thunderstorm day. Mr. Tuschy also gave an overview about certain ingredients which could result in heavy rainfall and flash flooding (due to deep moist convection). He ended his talk with a short overview about ESTOFEX, the European Storm Forecast Experiment.
Nowcasting of Severe Weather from Satellite Images for Southern Europe (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2014
Nowcasting of severe convective storms is still one of the most challenging tasks for operational forecasters. Satellite data are very useful in convection nowcasting because they enable a detailed monitoring of the various stages of convection; from the pre-convective environment to specific features on the tops of the mature convective clouds. Also, future MTG system will provide even better tools for convection nowcasting: satellite data with better temporal (every 2.5 min) and spatial resolution.
Various satellite products as well as their advantages and disadvantages for analysis and monitoring of the convective development over the Southern and Central Europe will be shown in the lecture presented by Petra Mikuš Jurković (DHMZ, Croatia). Also, the most interesting convective episodes detected during the 2.5 minute rapid-scan experiments with the MSG satellites will be analysed in detail.
Nowcasting of Severe Weather from Satellite Images for Northern Europe (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2014
In this lecture, severe weather cases of 29 July 2012 and 30 July 2013 will be analysed by Izolda Marcinonienė (Lithuanian LHMS), mainly using MSG satellite images and ECMWF data. The first event includes a more expanded North-Eastern European area - from Poland (where the unstable situation started) towards the Baltic States (where the severe weather phenomena developed) to Finland (where they ended). The second event hit only Lithuania, but local very heavy rain reached even the disastrous phenomenon criteria and will be shortly presented as well.
Convective Lines (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
Convective lines in connection with intense cyclogenesis hit Middle and Western Europe almost every winter season. These lines move very quickly and are often connected with thunderstorms, heavy gusts and graupel or even hail. In this presentation the related conceptual model and the preconvective environment will be explained. Based upon different satellite products and additional data two examples will be discussed.
Extremely strong convection in Lithuania (Webcast, 25 minutes), 2012
This presentation consists of several parts. It is starting with some words about basics of convective storms and then case study analysis is introduced, with weather charts, radio-sounding data and satellite images. There are three types of thunderstorms; Single-cell, Multi-cell and Supercell. And they all need some ingredients like warm and moist air at low levels, cool and dry air at upper levels, upper level divergence and synoptic scale disturbance. Squall lines, heavy rain and thunderstorms, mostly in the central part of Lithuania were reported at the night of 8th of August 2011. The strongest wind gusts reached even 30 m s-1 and exceeded the value of 60 m s-1 in the major parts of the country. Supercell also did the damage of €7.000.000 to a local forest, and even four casualties were suffered.
Overshooting Tops (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation during the Convection Week 2011 by Petra Mikuš, a young researcher from the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service DHMZ. The presentation presents results on the occurrences of overshooting tops in convective clouds in relation to severe weather in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.
ESSL (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation given by Pieter Groenemeijer, Director of ESSL, the European Severe Storms Laboratory. Pieter explained about the activities of ESSL and what the organization does for the meteorological community, such as supporting research in convective weather, offering a platform to discuss convective weather via the ECSS conferences and the operation of a European Severe Weather Database.
Deep Moisture Convection (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation given by Thomas Krennert (ZAMG) on the use of the IR8.7 channel for the detection of deep moisture convection (DMC) on marked WV boundaries.
Convective storms (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Aydin Erturk (TSMS) present on the "Detection and Monitoring Convective Storms by Using MSG Image and Products". The MSG SEVIRI is crucial data source for the nowcasting applications. Storm top features with IR imagery were well defined and published. MSGView software being operationally used for detection and monitoring convective storms at Turkish State Meteorological Service. Two case studies (a cold U/V and a cold ring shape) were demonstrated and discussed in this presentation.
Cell tracking with radar (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Vera Meyer (ZAMG) presents her PhD research on Cell tracking and Nowcasting using 3D lighting- and radar data in Southern Germany. Research conducted at DLR.
Convective Storms Initiation (Webcast, 32 minutes), 2011
Presentation by Aurora Bell on the influence of the the Black Sea on the initiation of convective storms in South Eastern Romania. Several cases with Doppler radar and satellite images were presented in combination with other integrated data. The presentation was oriented towards forecasters and Aurora explained the role of the sea breeze in bringing together the right ingredients.
Estofex (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation by Helge Tuschy from Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). He is one of the forecasters producing the valuable ESTOFEX forecasts and this lecture is on the basics of convection and how the convective outlooks in ESTOFEX are prepared.
Convective Rainfall Rate and nowcasting convection at AEMET (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2009
The recent version of NWCSAF has seen a whole list of updates and improvements of the products. One of this is the Convective Rainfall Rate (CRR). This product was developed by AEMET in Spain. Cecilia Marcos will explain the products, the algorithms behind it and show case studies.
The presentation will be followed by Ramon Vazquez who acts as a trainer to AEMET. He will talk about operational nowcasting and monitoring of convection at AEMET.
CB Tram and nowcasting convection in Slovenia (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2009
Presentation from DLR where Tobias Zinner and Caroline Forster will present the topic Synthetic satellite images based on COSMO. The talk will be divided in two halves. First, RTTOV implementation into COSMO is explained and Tobias will show applications of synthetic satellite data in the DLR remote sensing and weather forecast groups. Afterwards, Caroline Forster would present her work on the combination of satellite based nowcasting and COSMO forecast via synthetic satellite data.
The second part of this session will be done by Mateja Irsic Zibert from the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia. The title of her presentation will be on convection in Slovenia: Remote sensing data on selected examples.
Use of LAM for Convection nowcasting and hail in Finland (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2009
Fritz Woelfelmaier from ZAMG (Austria). Using statistical methods from several convection parameters from the LAM model ALADIN AUSTRIA he has developed a severe convection index, which was verified/correlated with lightning data and hail analysis from weather radar data. In the presentation Fritz will explain this method in more detail and show a case studies to demonstrate this benefit. The usefulness of this method has been proven and is operational to the forecasters in Austria.
The session will be continued by Jari Tuovinen from Finnish Meteorological Institute on the Investigation on hail occurrences in MSG.
Mesoscale Convective Systems in the tropics and use of rapid scan data in Hungary (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2009
Luiz Machado will talk about the use of SEVIRI satellite on the nowcasting of convection in Brazil and Africa.
After this presentation it is back to Europe with a presentation by Maria Putsay from Hungary on the use of MSG SEVIRI data to nowcast convection at her institute. She will speak on the benefit of Meteosat-8 Rapid Scan data.
Ring shaped storms and nowcasting of convection at ZAMG (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
The session includes presentations from Martin Setvak dealing with the MSG observations of cold-ring shaped storms and their comparison with CAPPI radar data. More information is found in this PowerPoint. The session is continued by the Austrian Meteorological Service (ZAMG) on severe convection and hail warnings.
Convective Initiation and nowcasting convection at IM (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2008
Kris Bedka (University of Wisconsin) and John Mecikalski (University of Alabama) gave a presentation on the Convective Initiation (CI) method. The CI product identifies cumulus-type clouds within an MSG image and uses the temporal evolution of the related MSG observations to identify rapidly growing cumulus as likely candidates to evolve into potentially strong convective storms up to one hour in the future.
This session was continued by the Portuguese Met Service (IM). Besides the diagnostic tools from Numerical Weather Prediction models currently in use, satellite and radar products were addressed, including automatic warnings, e.g. for hail.
Dust, ash and smog
Volcanic Ash (Webcast, 65 minutes), 2018
Since the late 1970's earth-orbiting satellites have been able to observe the weather around the globe and provide quantitative information on cloud movements. These data have proved extremely valuable for tracking volcanic ash clouds and more recently allowing quantitative information on volcanic ash column amounts and also on SO2 gas - another potential hazard to aviation. Notable incidents between commercial aviation and ash clouds, several in Indonesia and Alaska, have occurred during the satellite era (~1960's onwards). The talk will cover methods used to identify, quantify and monitor volcanic ash clouds and frame this in the context of the potential hazard.
Detection of Asian dust using COMS data (Webcast, 20 minutes), 2016
In this presentation, we will show the result of detection of dust using COMS data. Several Asian dust cases will be presented and as well as some operation results.
Assessment of the impact of the East Asian Summer monsoon on the air quality over China (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Air pollution is one of the most important environmental problems in developing Asian countries like China. In this region, studies showed that the East Asian monsoon plays a significant role in characterizing the temporal variation and spatial patterns of air pollution, since monsoon is a major atmospheric system affecting air mass transport, convection, and precipitation. Knowledge gaps still exist in the understanding of Asian monsoon impact on the air quality in China under the background of global climate change. For the first time satellite observations of tropospheric ozone and its precursors will be integrated with the ground-based, aircraft measurements of air pollutants and model simulations to study the impact of the East Asian monsoon on air quality in China.
Identification and characterization of dust sources using satellite observations and model simulations (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Dust sources are mostly located in remote areas and satellite observations are very suitable for their identification. Different methods inferring active dust sources have been developed in the recent past, which roughly can be separated into direct (e.g., back-tracking of dust plumes to their place of origin) and indirect methods (e.g., frequency of high atmospheric dust loading). Thereby, the accuracy of the identification methods varies with the temporal and spatial resolutions and the ambiguities of the satellite dust retrieval used. In concert with satellite-based dust source characterization, model simulations allow for a holistic assessment on dust sources and their controlling mechanism - ultimately providing insight into the multifaceted nature of the atmospheric dust life-cycle.
Dust Storms (Webcast, 40 minutes), 2014
This presentation, after highlighting the major socio-economic and environmental impacts of dust, focuses on the meteorological processes at various scales that are responsible for raising dust/sand storms in the arid Sahara Desert and the semi-arid Sahel at its fringes. The challenges facing the weather forecaster in forecasting such high impact weather phenomena and the importance of satellite remote sensing in their monitoring were also addressed here.
Detection of Dust with MSG (Training Module, 180 minutes), 2012
Atmospheric dust storms are common in many of the world's semi-arid and arid regions and can impact local, regional, and even global weather, agriculture, public health, transportation, industry, and ocean health. This globally-relevant three-hour module takes a multifaceted approach to studying atmospheric dust storms. The first chapter examines the impacts of dust storms, the physical processes involved in their life cycle, their source regions, and their climatology. The second chapter explores satellite products (notably dust RGBs) and dust models that are used for dust detection and monitoring. It also presents a process for forecasting dust storms. The third and final chapter of the module examines the major types of dust storms: those that are synoptically forced, such as pre- and post-frontal dust storms and those induced by large-scale trade winds; and those caused by mesoscale systems, such as downslope winds, gap flow, convection, and inversion downburst storms.
Dust and Mesoscale Patterns (Webcast, 66 minutes), 2012
Dust is a global issue with its good and also less good sides. There are hundreds or even thousands of places on Earth where the dust can be lifted, nevertheless you need to have a dust source to create a dust outbreak. And these are indeed two needed ingredients for lifting dust in the air that must come together; strong surface winds (requires about 15 knots) and dust source (or hotspots). MSG satellite helps a lot to do much better hot spot climatology, and for that, product called Dust Microphysics RGB is widely used. It is derived from three MSG spectral channels. Red color corresponds to difference of channels IR12.0 and IR10.8, green color to the difference of channels IR10.8 and IR8.7 and blue color to the sole IR10.8 channel. In addition to this product Natural Color RGB is also used, but mostly for detection of dust outbreak over the ocean. In this lecture Jochen Kerkmann, from EUMETSAT, will try to describe dust source regions and dust climatology, how to detect better dust on satellite images, how to discriminate levels of dust and what are the global impacts of dust outbreaks. Also he will mention topics like synoptic patterns and diurnal cycles of dust outbreaks, cloud-dust interaction, forecasting of dust movement and will give a list of typical mesoscale phenomena that can cause dust outbreaks.
Volcanic Ash (Training Module, 60 minutes), 2011
Extreme weather conditions such the presence of volcanic ash can put aircraft navigation into major difficulties. If an aircraft encounters volcanic ash the navigation gets extremely challenging. Between 1975 and 1994 more than 80 jet airplanes were damaged due to unplanned encounters with clouds of volcanic ash. Seven of these encounters caused in-flight loss of jet engine power, putting the passenger's lives at severe risk. Therefore, the correct assessment of the weather conditions is essential to ensure save flight conditions. This training module is dedicated to forecasters/aviation forecasters. The main intention is to provide a guideline on how to assess the potential of hazardous weather events such as volcanic ash. For this purpose, several tools based on satellite data can be consulted.
Fire monitoring
The danger of runaway fires in South Africa and the complexities around forecasting the conditions which favour their development (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
South Africa is by nature a dry country, which has very short wet periods, mainly confined to the coastal areas and eastern half of the country. During the dry season, the hot, windy conditions result in a favorable environment for fires to spread uncontrollably and cause large scale damage to the local vegetation and to infrastructure. To be able to anticipate and forecast the risk of runaway fires in South Africa, a forecaster needs to have many sources of information, ranging from precipitation amounts to an understanding of the local vegetation. The inclusion of satellite imagery interpretation is an invaluable part of the forecasting process and the monitoring of fires can be done accurately and on a 24hour basis. This presentation will outline the risk the fires pose within South Africa and our forecasting processes dealing with this environmental hazard.
Remote sensing of fires with Meteosat (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Not only smoke tells you where the fire is. Small active fires 20 meters across, a minute fraction of the pixel size, are sensed by Meteosat from its lofty orbit. We explain how to spot them without burning your fingers. Thresholds, channels and future composite products might ignite your interest.
Making use of Weather Satellites for Bushfire Fire Monitoring within Australia (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2016
Apart from the central desert areas, the Australian landscape, from the tropics of Far North Queensland to the southern tip of Tasmania has climatic conditions and vegetation which are conducive to wildfires throughout the year. The most volatile of these areas being the south eastern parts of Australia which includes the states of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Australia has large tracts of wilderness which can only be monitored by aircraft and satellite and as such, remote sensing for bushfires within the landscape is virtually mandatory throughout the dry season in the tropics and the summer periods for the southern states. This talk looks at some of the ways that Satellite Remote Sensing has assisted emergency managers for preparedness, response and recovery, the three most important factors for any emergency operation.
Particlelarly Interesting Science: The Meaning, Marvels, and Mysteries of PyroCumulonimbus (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Pyroconvection is not a new concept. However, the idea that pyroconvection can be explosive enough to inject a smoke plume into the stratosphere that pollutes hemispherically, goes against the grain of textbook atmospheric physics. Since the discovery of forest fire smoke in the stratosphere, skepticism has given way to acceptance, understanding, excitement, and wonder. That is because pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb for short) research continues to make more discoveries, involve growing collaborations, and invite new questions.
This presentation will be an overview of pyroCb research. It will focus on observations from satellite sensors. Emphasis will be on platforms such as MODIS, AVHRR, GOES, TOMS, OMI, GOME 2, and CALIPSO. Also to be explored will be the curious historic connection between pyroCb and volcanic eruptions.
Fire Risks and Burnt Areas (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2012
Forest fires are one of the most devastating natural disasters that often occur in mainland Portugal during the summer, with an impact on the economy, environment and climate. The Institute of Meteorology, currently Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera) has long made efforts to provide daily information on the risk of forest fires. Currently, IPMA daily runs an index of forest fire risk based on FWI (Fire Weather Index), developed by the Canadian Forest Service. This new index, ICRIF (Indice Combinado de Risco de Incêndios Florestais ) combines FWI with the type and condition of vegetation, called structural risk, being the vegetation type based on CORINE 2000 (CLC2000) and the vegetation conditions based on daily observation of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), retrieved from the AVHRR radiometer.
Brazilian Amazonia together with the adjacent savanna (Cerrado) presents a huge number of fire events every year. In such context, accurate information about location and extent of burned area is required and of particular interest for the scientific communities dealing with meteorological and climate models in what concerns reliable estimations of biomass burned. Accordingly, an effort has been made by the scientific community to develop thematic products of burnt areas. In such context, this presentation will provide an overview of INPE/Brazil currently efforts in monitoring burned areas. The initiative is based on the (V,W) burned index. The index uses daily reflectance obtained from the 1km MODIS Level 1B calibrated radiance from bands 2 (NIR) and 20 (MIR). An overview will be given of results obtained and operational applications will be shown.
Forest Fires (Webcast, 56 minutes), 2012
Forest fires, as a natural phenomenon (e.g. ignited due to lightning), is important factor in natural living process of a forest. Nevertheless, problems occur because most of the forest fires are caused by a human action, thus are very difficult to predict in any form. Therefore, this lecture is mainly based on detection of forest fire hot spots by satellite means, which is more important in regions with small population covered areas. Emphasis here is on the IR3.9 μm SEVIRI channel, which can be called window channel, but on the other hand it is close to a CO2 absorption band. The importance of this channel we can see through a Wien's law; 3.9 μm is peek wavelength of blackbody with temperature of around 750 K, which is very close to temperature of a fire flame during active phase of fire. Besides forest fire detection, in this lecture you can hear something about detection of aerosols coming from forest fires, identification of burnt areas and about Fire Risk products.
Forest Fires (Training Module, 300 minutes), 2012
The past decade forest fires have received much media attention due to the impact it has in environmental terms. This CAL is mainly for forecasters that deal with forest fires. However, the module may be used by others dealing with forest fires like, civil protection agents, fireman or forecasters.
LSA SAF - Fire Products (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Presentation by the LSA SAF by Carla Barroso on the Fire Radiative Power product which was developed and is used by IM (Portugal) assessing the risk of forest fires.
Fog and Low Clouds
Observing (non)meteorological features over sea and coastal areas (Webcast, 40 minutes), 2018
Sea and coastal areas have radiative characteristics that enhance the identification of non-meteorological features like smoke, ash or dust. Maritime inversions and atmospheric interchanges along coastal areas engender particular cloud patterns like Bénard cells, Kármán vortex streets, undular bores, ship trails, (extra) tropical cyclones or sea breeze fronts. Examples of such features will be shown and discussed, using imagery from geostationary and polar weather satellites.
Fog in the Marine Environment (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2013
Marine fog formation, development, and dissipation depend on many important physical, chemical, radiative, dynamical, and thermodynamical processes as well surface characteristics of the location in the ocean-land boundary system. Marine fog can be either warm fog or cold fog depend on temperature (T); if T is less than or equal to zero in the air, fog is called as freezing fog. The main reason of the fog formation is usually due to warm and moisture air advection over the cold ocean surface or over the radiatively cooled land surface. Ts-Td (ocean surface T and air dew point T) difference of about 2 °C is usually used for a limit for fog formation. It is also possible that local marine environment can enhance or weaken the fog intensity because of vegetation, surface height, and sea breezes. Fog over the marine environments is usually dissipates at noon because of radiative heating and mixing due to turbulence with higher dry air. The intensity of fog is the function of liquid water content (LWC) and droplet number concentration (Nd) of the particles in the air mass. Increasing LWC and Nd result in visibility down to 10s of meters. In this presentation, marine fog observations using surface instruments and remote sensing platforms, and as well as its forecasting based on numerical models will be discussed and its effect on aviation, marine environment, transportation, and vegetation will be summarized.
Applications for Fog and Low Cloud (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2012
Because we don't know if the cloud observed from satellite is reaching ground or not, it is unrealistic to claim that we can identify fog only using satellite data. Therefore, presenter of this lecture is not presenting fog mapping derived only from satellite. Instead he is revealing cloud products extracted from MSG SEVIRI satellite imagery using NWCSAF software, concentrating on the fog or low level clouds category. Lecture is starting with some basic information about SAF nowcasting. After that main features of SAFNWC/MSG cloud algorithms, CM a (cloud mask), CT (cloud type) and CTTH (cloud top temperature and height) are given, step by step with validation results. Also there are examples with fog or low-level clouds situations, including example of automatic use for fog risk mapping.
SEVIRI Brightness Temperature Difference for Fog (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Andreas Wirth (ZAMG) will start the event week with a presentation about fog and low stratus detection from SEVIRI and AVHRR images. The presentation will deal with fog detection during night-time and day-time conditions. A recipe for daytime low cloud detection using several SEVIRI channels will be presented. A rough comparison between different low cloud detection products is planned.
Fog forecasting at ZAMG (Webcast, 30 minutes) 2009
Andreas Frank, a forecaster from ZAMG, will give a presentation on the forecast experience of fog at the Austrian Weather Institute. A good description of the different input data is presented and how these add up to make a forecast.
COST 722 (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Wilfried Jacobs (DWD) will talk about COST-722. A project in which 14 countries worked together from November 2001 to May 2007. After an inventory phase about the requirements of customers and forecasters a research and development phase followed during which advanced methods of very short-range forecasts of fog, visibility and low clouds were developed. In this presentation an overview about activities and the most important results will be given.
Fog in the Ljubljana Basin (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Ljubljana airport is located in the basin, surrounded by high mountains with peaks over 2500 m. The formation of radiation fog at the airport is therefore very common, especially in the wintertime. This greatly impacts the safety and effectiveness of aviation traffic.
The method used in Slovenia is based on statistical methods of interpreting observations and numerical weather prediction models' output. In two methods, discriminant analysis and decision trees, they use three types of predictors - observations, MOS and PPM. They do not use the results directly but rather as a guide for the real forecast.
Estimating Cloudbase from MSG (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Jan Cermak (ETH) will talk about the operational detection of fog and low stratus from satellite data. The research presented my may help the forecasters and application experts to get out of the traditional thinking you cannot differentiate fog from low stratus with satellite images alone.
Fog Forecasting in Croatia (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Practical session done by Stjepko Jancijev from the Croatian air-traffic control who will talk about Products and techniques used on Zagreb airport for fog forecasting. This talk will be followed by a colleague from the Croatian Weather Service DHMZ who will talk about the use of MSG and the derived Fog products in the operational shifts.
Fog SEVIRI Products at KNMI (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Paul de Valk, researcher of the remote sensing department at KNMI, will talk about radiation fog and shallow fog. Radiation fog is barely observable from satellite observations. Ground based observations are used to detect radiation fog. The satellite information is used to extrapolate the ground-based point observations to a spatial distribution.
The forecaster is provided with information over fog favorable conditions deduced from observations and with information about visibility and ceiling. The tool is developed to support the forecaster in his decisions with respect to fog.
Definition of Fog (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Jan Hemink from KNMI will give a practical session on fog in respect to the Aviation Meteorologist with an example from visibility observations and forecast of Fog at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
On a satellite image low layered Stratus is often compared to Fog. To actually know if there is Fog underneath this Stratus cover you have to know about the visibility. A problem than arises: When do we talk about Fog? The criteria for this is that the visibility should be below 1000 meters, but how do we defines this criteria during day and night.
The measurements of visibility in relation to the forecast will be a central point that is discussed in this presentation.
NWCSAF Products on Fog (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Herve Le Gleau (Meteo-France) will talk about the SAFNWC/MSG cloud type/height parameters. The algorithms, validation results, limitations and recent improvements (to be available to users in March 2009) will be presented and illustrated with low cloud/fog situations. An automatic use at Meteo-France of the NWCSAF/MSG cloud type for fog risk mapping will also be shown.
Fog Forecasting at IM (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Nuno Moreira from Portugal will talk on how IM (Portugal) deals with fog, with focus in summer fog in comparison to (our) winter fog.
Use of IR3.9 and IR8.7 Channels for Fog Nowcasting (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Anna Eronn from the Swedish Hydrological and Meteorological Institute will talk about cold event Fog.
The most common way to detect fog and low clouds at night is by using of the brightness temperature difference between IR10.8 and IR3.9. Unfortunately, this method does not work in very cold winter situations because the IR3.9 channel is very noisy for cold scenes. Therefore, it is recommended to replace the IR3.9 with the IR8.7 channel which is significantly less noisy for cold scenes. The theory behind this and practical examples will be presented.
Fog forecasting at FMI and Discussion on Fog Week (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2009
Vesa Nietosvaara presents fog forecasting process at FMI Aviation forecasting office.
Hydrologic Uses of Global Satellite Precipitation Datasets in Complex Terrain Regions (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
The advancements in satellite rainfall observations over the past decade have opened new horizons in hydrological applications at global scale. Specifically, newly available high resolution (8-25 km, 1-3 hourly) satellite precipitation estimates (HPE) have allowed researchers to consider their potential integration with hydrologic models for flood modelling applications. However, performance evaluation of HPEs in cases of major flash flood-inducing storms is needed to assess their ability to represent the high rainfall variability associated with these storms. Furthermore, derivation of error metrics is usually based on long time records (years) thus results are bulked and cannot provide clear evidence for the efficiency of high-resolution satellite precipitation products in quantifying heavy precipitation events that are usually responsible for the occurrence of flash floods. In this talk we will review a comprehensive error analysis of the currently available global-scale HPE products based on a number of major flash flood-inducing storms that occurred in Southern Europe and Western Mediterranean basins over the past 12 years. Quality controlled rainfall datasets derived from high-resolution radar-rainfall estimates and/or dense rain gauge network observations are used for reference. The ability of satellite-rainfall to represent the magnitude and spatiotemporal patterns of each storm is examined. Strengths and limitations of each product are highlighted and general findings are anticipated to serve as a valuable reference to both hydrologists and satellite product developers. Finally, the error propagation from rainfall to flood simulation is examined, and error correction techniques based on a newly developed NWP-based correction technique are evaluated in terms of their impact on flood prediction efficiency.
Use of TRMM/GPM Rainfall in Real-time Global Flood and Landslide Calculations (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2014
A Global Flood Monitoring System (GFMS) has been developed and tested to provide real-time flood detection and streamflow estimates using NASA multi-satellite precipitation data calibrated by TRMM and, in the near future, by the GPM core satellite. Images and output data are available for use by the disaster relief and science communities with updates available every three hours (http://flood.umd.edu). The system currently uses the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis [TMPA]) and a hydrological and routing combination model, the Dominant river Routing Integrated with VIC Environment (DRIVE) system. The land surface and runoff calculations are carried out at 0.125 latitude-longitude resolution with routing and streamflow calculations done at that resolution and also at 1km resolution. Examples of results for recent flood events will be presented, including calculated inundation maps compared to those estimated from MODIS data. Results from a system to estimate landslide potential are also available at (http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/publications_dir/potential_landslide.html). Landslide examples will also be shown.
Evaluation of the flood system against a global flood event archive indicates skill for longer duration floods in terms of Probability of Detection (POD) [~ 0.8] and False Alarm Rates (FAR) [~0.6]. False alarms are often associated with the presence of dams (not accounted for in the system at present), but sometimes with overestimates of rainfall or artifacts (false rain) related to surface conditions (e.g., cold/wet ground). Failures of detection are often related to underestimation of rainfall, frequently due to shallow, orographic systems unseen or underestimated due to lack of a strong scattering signal in the passive microwave observations.
Meteorological similarities and differences of the great European floods (Webcast, 37 minutes), 2014
In the last decade devastating floods occurred in Europe every year taking lives and causing great damages. In this presentation synoptic situations leading to the largest floods affecting Europe in the last 5 years will be analyzed. The main idea is to pinpoint the similarities and differences in synoptic patterns in order to improve the forecast of such events.
Catastrophic flash flood in Madeira Island (Webcast, 36 minutes), 2014
During early morning and morning on 20th February 2010 an extreme and rare flash flood event has occurred in the Portuguese island of Madeira in the North Atlantic, causing 42 casualties, 600 homeless and an estimated loss of around 1000 million euros. In this presentation, the synoptic environment will be presented and the precipitation producing systems affecting the island will be discussed. The analysis will be mainly performed using satellite imagery from Meteosat 9, both from singles channels and RGB images, as well as from objective estimates of rain and water vapor content. Results from following studies on the precipitation regime of this mountainous island will also be presented.
The European Flood Awareness System - increasing preparedness for riverine floods across Europe (Webcast, 40 minutes) 2014
The disastrous floods in Elbe and Danube rivers in 2002 confronted the European Commission with non-coherent flood warning information from different sources and of variable quality, complicating planning and organization of aid. In response to this event, the European Commission initiated the development of a European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) to increase the preparedness for floods in Europe.
The aim of EFAS is to gain time for preparedness measures before major flood events strike particularly for trans-national river basins both in the Member States as well as on European level. This is achieved by providing complementary, added value information to the National hydrological services and by keeping the European Response and Coordination Centre informed about ongoing floods and about the possibility of upcoming floods across Europe. Since 2012 EFAS is running fully operational as part of the COPERNICUS Emergency Management Services.
This presentation will provide an overview of the following basic principles employed in EFAS: (1) the use of ensemble predictions in flood forecasting, (2) employing model climatology to derive return period statistics and (3) communication and visualization of uncertain results for decision making. Furthermore, the flash flood predictions as computed in EFAS will be presented.
Land applications (Soil moisture, land surface temperature, droughts, landslides)
Land Surface Temperature (Training Module, 180 minutes), 2017
In this module we focus on the land and clarify the meaning of Land Surface Temperature (LST), a parameter often confused with air temperature, aerodynamic temperature or soil temperature. The term "Land Surface Temperature" is widely used by distinct research communities such as those of climate, numerical modelling or boundary layer studies while referring to different physical meanings. We take a deep look at LST by considering how this temperature can be obtained from satellite measurements and how it compares to other temperatures.
Soil moisture monitoring for food security in Africa (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Droughts are one of the most severe natural hazards with regard to affected people, spatio-temporal extension and economic losses. At the same time, population growth is expected to put global agricultural production under increasing pressure. Thus, drought monitoring and forecasting systems would be essential for large parts of the globe, and satellites are a valuable data source to establish such monitoring systems.
The presentation will give examples on the relevant parameters measured by satellites, whereas the focus will be on soil moisture. Furthermore, the combination of satellite measurements and model forecasts will be described to point out the state-of-the-art possibilities in forecasting drought events. Examples from an existing system will be presented for the region of Eastern Africa.
Evapotranspiration monitoring with Meteosat Second Generation satellites: method, products and utility in drought detection (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2014
Water resource is a major concern for sustainable development in many semi-arid areas. Early detection of drought and monitoring water consumption by agriculture are highly important for adaptation in water use regional policy. As a crucial component of the water cycle, land evapotranspiration is a primary source of information for such water resources assessments, and remote sensing from geostationary satellites offers the possibility to monitor it over large areas at relatively high temporal and spatial resolutions. The Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA-SAF) of EUMETSAT proposes an operational evapotranspiration product based on data from the SEVIRI instrument of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG). This SESSION will focus on the evapotranspiration process and the role of satellite-based remote sensing to its observation over land. More particularly, the strategy adopted by LSA-SAF to produce the evapotranspiration maps will be unveiled, with an overview of the quality and characteristics of the operational products. At last, some examples of the product utility in drought monitoring will be given.
Potential of the EUMETSAT LSA-SAF Evapotranspiration for drought monitoring in Europe; a study developed in the framework of the European Drought Observatory (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2014
The European Drought Observatory (EDO) (http://edo.jrc.ec.europa.eu) is an initiative of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre that aims to integrate drought information at European level in a platform accessible to everyone. This information consists mainly in indices based in meteorological and remote sensing data that are produced in near real time.
During this lecture, the different indicators produced operationally at EDO will be firstly introduced. Secondly, a study developed at EDO assessing the LSA-SAF Evapotranspiration (ET) product for drought monitoring in Europe will be detailed. In this analysis, two case studies will be presented; corresponding to the drought episodes of spring/summer 2007 and 2011. For these two cases, the drought indicators previously introduced (Including ET) will be compared and analyzed, considering in the analysis, different drought effects as it is the decrease of the agricultural production.
Finally, the main limitations of the ET as drought indicator will be discussed, as well as the potential for drought assessment and monitoring of other LSA-SAF products like the Land Surface Temperature (LST) and the fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetic Active Radiation (fAPAR).
Assessing and monitoring drought events using vegetation and drought indices (Webcast, 32 minutes), 2014
Currently the determination of the ecological, agricultural and environmental impacts of climatic change is considered to be a scientific priority. In the present context of climate change and increasing land degradation and desertification, the evaluation of drought impacts is crucial in determining the environmental consequences of a hypothetical change in climatic conditions.
In the last decade special attention was devoted to the development of new indices particularly suited for drought analyses, quantification and monitoring, namely the ones that are using evapotranspiration data.
On the other hand, remote sensing data allows to analyse vegetation activity and to estimate different biophysical parameters such as the area index, the vegetation biomass, the net primary production and photosynthetic activity. Given the spectral properties of vegetation, vegetation indices can be calculated and used to analyse vegetation dynamics and climate impacts, namely to determine the impact of droughts.
Global droughts watch from space (Webcast, 31 minutes), 2014
Drought is one of the most adverse environmental disasters. It affects countries' economies, environment and population wellbeing. Drought occurs every year somewhere in the world and is very costly disaster. Only in the USA, the country of high technology, drought costs taxpayers nearly $6 billion each year. Unlike other environmental disaster drought is a very unusual phenomenon because it starts unnoticeably, develop cumulatively, the impact is also cumulative and by the time when the effect of drought is observable it is too late to mitigate the consequences. Drought was traditionally monitored by weather data. However, since global weather station network is limited, satellite data were used for drought detection, monitoring, prediction and impact assessment. NOAA has developed new method for drought detection and monitoring from reflectance measured by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer flown on NOAA polar-orbiting operational environmental satellites. The method calculates Vegetation Health (VH) indices, which estimate vegetation condition (health) on a scale from extreme stress to favorable conditions based on intensity of greenness, vigor and hotness of vegetation canopy. The VH is estimated every week for each 4 by 4 km earth surface since 1982 and is delivered to the NOAA/NESDIS web site in digital, color-coded and time series from http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/index.php. In addition to drought and vegetation health monitoring, the VH indices are applied to model and predict agricultural production, wild fire risk, mosquito-borne diseases, climate & land cover changes, invasive species and others. This presentation provides some principals of the method, current drought situation, example of global and regional early drought detection, estimation of its intensity, duration& impact, modelling & prediction of crop production, and explains possible climate services. Some attention will be devoted to drought impacts on food security and how the new generation of NOAA operational satellites (S-NPP/JPSS) will improve drought detection and monitoring.
The LSA SAF vegetation products and applications: drought monitoring (Webcast, 34 minutes), 2014
The LSA SAF generates and disseminates Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC), the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) products derived from SEVIRI/Meteosat BRDF data for the whole Meteosat disk on a daily and 10-day basis. The high rate of acquisition provided by the SEVIRI instrument guarantees the availability of spatially consistent cloud-free data for adequately monitoring both the seasonality of vegetation and the long-term trends in the state of vegetation. This presentation is structured in two parts. Firstly, it is provided an overview of the algorithms, and main characteristics of the VEGA products, including some details about the continuous validation. Secondly, insights about the utility of the products for different applications related with land cover dynamics are also provided, particularly for near real time drought monitoring.
Monitoring Drought Conditions in Slovenia using Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indices (Webcast, 39 minutes), 2014
Various sources of vegetation indices data (EUMETSAT LSA SAF, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service and MODIS) are available for drought monitoring in Slovenia. Each source has its advantages and disadvantages; the EUMETSAT LSA SAF data is updated daily (it is based on 15 minute measurements), however it has relative coarse ground resolution (approx. 5x5 km over Slovenia). On the other hand, Copernicus Land Monitoring service uses data from low orbital satellites which allow finer ground resolution (500 m - 1 km), but data are refreshed only every 10 days (similar frequency is valid also for MODIS data).
Regarding indices, vegetation signal from Fraction of Vegetation Cover (FVC) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) have been found to be a very good indicators of vegetation condition. FAPAR based on LSA SAF data gave us less accurate information on vegetation status. Our main focus is devoted to selected location with relative homogeneous vegetation and intense agriculture. Interpretation of drought signals deduced from indices time series is done with help of the reference period data and drought is interpreted as departure of current condition from reference values. However, drought influence can be masked with signals of damaged vegetation due to severe weather, e.g., hail; therefore, much more effort needs to be invested in analysis that a drought signal can be recognized and isolated.
Landslides: Structure of extreme rain fall events and the development of a meteorological early warning system (Webcast, 28 minutes), 2014
Extreme rainfall events leading to landslides in torrent catchment areas in Austria will be analyzed due to their intensity, extent and duration using weather maps, satellite images, data from weather stations, INCA analysis and thunder cell tracking algorithms. And a meteorological early warning system concerning landslides is? introduced. This system uses short term precipitation forecasts and predefined thresholds for sending a SMS or Email to the user.
An approach to Forecasting Land Slides and Droughts using Satellite and NWP data (Webcast, 46 minutes), 2014
The monitoring of weather characteristics over the equatorial and tropical regions is well covered with both polar and geostationary satellites hence the satellite becomes a very important instrument on severe weather monitoring and forecasting. The application of multispectral data of MSG in the monitoring the microphysics of clouds such as deep convective clouds with RGB composites provides in-depth understanding in the identification of regions where extremely active storms are located. The use of Multi sensor Precipitation estimate (MPE) also helps in the estimation total of accumulated rainfall on each region during the storm period. Such areas can easily be monitored and the possibility of excess rainfall within a day can be evaluated and such information is used to issue a warning for evacuation, or for support to the potential victims on these areas.
In short RGB composites, MPE Estimates, and the accumulated rainfall on daily basis becomes effective tools of landslide forecasting. We also add the NWP products particularly the High resolution (7 km) COSMOS data and NCEP CPC data as it gives a forecast with indications of possibly of heavy storms. However, with satellite data you are able to ascertain which areas would the forecast show excess impact on the ground. The NWP products are used to help in creating accumulated rainfall values (estimates) necessary in establishing the threshold values for remote areas where station gauge data is not available.
Use of satellite precipitation products for landslide mapping: people and pixels in Brazil (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2014
Research during the past decade has documented the importance of satellite precipitation products to the overall workings of the tropical landslide susceptibility. Several types of satellite precipitation products are used for landslide assessment but the area they see, and the frequency of observations, varies. Two complementary types are particularly relevant to landslide management. Polar-orbiting satellites fly in a relatively low orbit (often at around 1000 km above the ground), providing relatively high spatial resolution. But they only collect data over the same point once every few days. Geostationary satellites are positioned at a much higher altitude (about 36,000km). They orbit the Earth at the same speed as the Earth rotates on its axis, in effect remaining stationary above the ground and viewing the whole earth disk below. Their spatial data is much coarser, but is collected at the same point every 15 minutes. Moreover, rainfall-triggered landslides tend to be local-scale features, but ground conditions are also very important. When they destroy people's lives and livelihoods, they become natural disasters. Thus, Understanding the nature of spatial and temporal variability of rainfall events in developing countries is important to improve the landslide-prediction science. This seminar will present an overview of recent landslide examples in Brazil and applications of satellite precipitation products. A key satellite input dataset for the integrated applications is the EUMETSAT's Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management.
Soil Moisture from ASCAT (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
Although soil moisture represents only about 0.005% of the global water resources, it is one of the crucial variables in hydrological processes, influencing the exchange of water and energy fluxes at the land/atmosphere interface. For many environmental studies it is important to have accurate estimates of the spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture (e.g. hydrology, meteorology). Advances in satellite remote sensing have shown the potential of estimating soil moisture using various remote sensing techniques. This presentation will focus on an introduction using active and passive microwave remote sensing for the retrieval of soil moisture. In case of the active retrieval a detailed description of the semi-empirical model used for the METOP ASCAT soil moisture product will be shown step by step, especially highlighting assumptions and limitations. In the end various applications using satellite-based soil moisture products will be summarized.
Land Applications (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
The new generations of sensors on board meteorological satellites (SEVIRI -MSG, ASCAT -EPS, etc.) enabled a whole new range of products related to the properties of the surface. Applications of such products are great. Some of them are; Vegetation monitoring, Wild Fires detection, Floods and Heat waves monitoring, detection of Urban heat islands, Crop water requirements, etc.
Lecture starts with explanation of Vegetation monitoring and some applications of Vegetation products, such as NDVI index, FVC index, LAI and FAPAR indices. After that Evapotranspiration parameter and Reference evapotranspiration overview is given. And at the end Land surface temperature is observed and various applications of this product are discussed.
Ocean applications (Waves, sea surface temperature, sea ice, ...)
Introducing Sentinel-3 marine products for near real time ocean monitoring (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2018
This talk will focus on using new satellite products and techniques to identify the precursors of extratropical transition of tropical cyclones and applying new lightning products to address marine convection and the potential for significant winds. Some of these products have been used in Europe for years, but they are relatively new to the U.S. The Satellite Proving Ground for GOES-R and JPSS have allowed forecasters and researchers to use these same products and develop new integrated ways to apply them to the forecast challenges.
Satellite Ocean Winds and Waves Use at the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2018
The NOAA Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) is responsible for weather warnings and forecasts for the western North Atlantic and eastern and central North Pacific Oceans. The oceans remain relatively data sparse for observed conditions. To compensate, OPC has successfully used winds from scatterometers and wave heights from altimeters to better understand and predict hazardous conditions over the waters of responsibility. Weather forecasting challenges for large ocean areas will be discussed along with the application of satellite winds and waves.
Forecasting Ocean waves: what information is available from models? (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2018
Wave models are able to give a very detailed description of the conditions at the surface of the oceans. The mean sea state is fully described by the 2d wave spectrum. This detailed description is however not always very practical and the bulk of the information contained in the 2d spectrum is usually reduced in the form of a set of integrated parameters, from a simple few such as significant wave height, mean wave direction and mean wave period, to more sophisticated parameters that described distinct part of the wave fields. Recent advances in the understanding of wave dynamics have led to the development of new set of parameters that give information on the possible largest single wave that might exist over a certain area within a certain time frame. It is now possible to describe the sea state with different level of complexity depending on the user needs.
Applying new satellite products and techniques to address forecast challenges (Webcast, 55 minutes), 2018
The EUMETSAT-operated Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite has been providing near-real time data to the marine community since mid-2016, and will be soon be joined in operations by its sister, Sentinel-3B. This presentation will give an overview of the available Sentinel-3 marine products, with a primary focus on data streams associated by the altimeter (SRAL) and sea surface temperature radiometer (SLSTR). Examples of the relevant applications will be presented, along with a discussion of how users can best access data and monitor its quality.
Arctic Sea Ice Observations (Webcast, 112 minutes), 2017
Sea ice has always posed a threat to ships sailing through the northern Atlantic and also the ice was a clear indication of climate changes since the start of satellite observations in the 1970s. Satellites from their beginning have helped very much in tracking the condition and movements of ice sheets over North Pole and Antarctica. Sea ice condition, its melting and freezing over again in winter are important to track to see how they are affecting the weather and climate in these parts. Many satellite products and models were developed to distinguish thin one-year ice from the thicker multiyear ice and to determine the actual thickness of these sheets. Further questions like how does ice affect radiation, how does snow affect the ice and what is the quality of the models that are used, will be answered during this lecture.
Ocean Waves (Webcast, 59 minutes), 2017
Starting from the basics, this lecture introduces the students to wave model products (e.g. wave height and mean propagation direction), wave spectrum analysis, long swell forecasts, extreme forecast index etc. Since these outputs (alongside data from the buoys) are the basic material marine forecasters have for forecasting and nowcasting waves in seas and especially in oceans, explaining the positive and negative sides of model outputs is very important for understanding and thus correctly using the products marine forecasters use.
High Waves (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2014
For any operation at sea or in the coastal area, forecasts of the sea state are essential. The quality of those forecasts has steadily improved over the years as attested by the successful forecasts of the many large waves events that affected the Euro-Atlantic coast during last winter. Nevertheless, forecasts of high impact weather can still be uncertain. For this reason, probabilistic forecasting based on ensemble technique should be used to ascertain the probability of extreme weather, including wave parameters, as well as possible alternative scenarios. It is known that freak waves do occur and can result in major damages and losses. Predicting those events is more challenging, nevertheless advances in the theoretical frameworks for those situations have been made and has resulted in new forecasts parameters.
Ocean and Wave Models (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
Nowadays, an accurate description of the surface waves that are generated by the wind (wind waves) can be achieved by running a wave model. In turn, waves affect the wind profile over the oceans. Such an effect is accounted for in the ECMWF forecasting systems by having a wave model component within the atmospheric model.
A brief review of the essence of how ocean waves forecasts are obtained will be presented. This will be followed by a comprehensive description of the type of wave products that are available (from deterministic to probabilistic one). Waves are essentially global and can therefore affect areas far away from the generating storms. Examples will be presented to illustrate these last points.
Sea Ice Detection and Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
Accurate measurement of sea ice properties is important for example in initializing numerical weather and ice models (data assimilation), navigation in the sea ice covered areas, and for monitoring the annual changes in the global ice cover (climate change). The presentation will cover the remote sensing (RS) techniques for detecting and measuring sea ice. Measuring of different sea ice parameters based on space-borne Rs instruments has been developed significantly during the recent years, and many sea ice parameters can now be measured by different RS instruments. The sea ice parameters that can be measured by RS include ice type, ice deformation, ice concentration (ice area), ice thickness and ice drift. Different kind of RS instruments are used for measuring these quantities: radiometers operating at different wavelengths, synthetic aperture radars, coastal radars, altimeters. The presentation covers these methods and an introduction to algorithms for measuring the ice parameters. Existing ice products are presented, and also the deficiencies of the methods and validation of the measurements are shortly discussed.
Sea Ice Applications (Webcast, 19 minutes), 2012
Thomas Lavergne from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute is presenting the work that has been done within OSI SAF on Sea Ice Applications. General physical role of the sea ice in Earth's system we can look through the radiation. In winter time sea is relatively warmer than atmosphere and when sea ice is present it acts like cover to the sea radiation. On the breaking points of ice thus there is suddenly transfer of moisture and heat from the sea to atmosphere, both sensible heat and radiation. This process is responsible for cloud formation and the weather conditions overall. So for (e.g. ship) safety, weather prediction, climate monitoring or ecosystem studies the information on sea ice coverage is crucial. To track and measure sea ice motion and concentration, Passive microwave imagers are used (SSM/I or AMSR-E). These instruments are measuring emitted radiances from below. Thus they don't need solar light and can operate both day and night.
Arctic and Antarctic Meteorology (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
Eberhard Fahrbach from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) begins with a presentation of the German research vessel Polarstern and explains its onboard instruments and laboratories. He comes then to speak about the principal differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic Ocean. He compares the currents of both oceans and explains the mechanisms behind them. A special focus is taken on the roles of the oceans as heat buffer in the global climate system and its role as storage for anthropogenic carbon. The process of sea ice formation is explained. Sea ice increases considerably the amount of reflected solar energy and plays therefore an important role in the global energy budget. The temporal evolution of the average monthly sea ice extent is compared between both Arctic Seas. The presenter finishes on vertical cross sections showing oceanic front lines generated by differences in temperature and salinity of the water.
Sea Surface Temperature (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Sea surface temperature (SST), defined as one of the essential climate variables, has a key role in climate research and weather prediction by representing the boundary condition for both the ocean and the atmosphere.
This presentation shows how the SST is retrieved from satellite observations and its main retrieval errors, the instruments and satellites used in its retrieval and the main SST applications. At the end, a brief overview of the future satellite SST-related missions is given.
Coastal Upwelling (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation on "Coastal Upwelling and associated phenomena" in which a brief review of the Ekman layers is presented, followed by an overview of several phenomena resulting from wind driven coastal divergence. In addition, the presentation of general processes occurring in these areas, several aspects of the summer upwelling off Western Iberia are discussed.
Aspects of Forecasting Excessive Precipitation Events in Germany (Webcast, 42 minutes), 2017
The talk of this presentation is focused on analyzing development of convective cells that may give huge amounts of precipitation. Marcus Beyer shows us the ingredient based forecasting method analyzing CAPE, moisture and lift, the three essential ingredients for developing of convection and then additionally the shear component that governs the strength of a convective cell. Later on Marcus analyzes two cases of convection that caused major damages in Germany using this method.
Precipitation Estimate from MSG (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Since 2004, EUMETSAT is deriving the Multi-Sensor Precipitation Estimate (MPE) product operationally. The MPE product retrieval is based on a blending technique that uses microwave information from SSMI-S instrument onboard DMSP-F16 polar satellite and infrared information from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) instrument onboard MSG geostationary satellites. It consists of a rain rate given every 15 minutes at MSG pixel resolution (3x3km2). Although the retrieval is not a state-of-the-art technique, the product has proven to be quite robust and valuable for deep convective precipitation detection. This presentation will present the MPE product and show some example of potential improvements for future SEVIRI precipitation product.
Global Precipitation Measurements for Science and Society (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2015
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international network of satellites that provide next-generation global observations of rain and snow. The GPM concept centers on the deployment of a GPM Core Observatory satellite (launched Feb 2014), which is a joint NASA/JAXA partnership. The GPM Core Observatory operates an advanced radar and radiometer system to measure precipitation from space and serves as a reference standard to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites. GPM has a unique role in providing datasets for science and societal applications related to the Earth's water cycle at both regional and global scales and over long time periods if one includes the 17-year record of precipitation from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) along with the expected 10 years from GPM. GPM is a mission with both scientific and application goals and as such has both high-quality research data products and near real-time (NRT) data products. The NRT products are released 1-6 hours after data collection and are important for operational users and weather related disaster applications. Some products are every 30 minutes and at a 0.1deg by 0.1deg (~10km by 10km) footprint. The research products are used for scientific research and climatology and weather/climate models. During this lecture information will be presented on how the satellite instruments work, the retrievals algorithms perform, the data is used for scientific investigations and societal applications such as floods, landslides, cyclones, and how to obtain GPM datasets.
Fundamentals of satellite precipitation estimation (Webcast, 46 minutes), 2015
The estimation of precipitation from space was attempted almost at the beginning of the satellite meteorology era by establishing a somewhat loose link between visible and infrared imagery of cloud tops and precipitation intensity at the ground. Since the early days, estimation methods have qualitatively and quantitatively evolved with the advent of passive microwave sensors first and precipitation and cloud radars more recently. The purpose of the lecture is to provide a necessarily brief overview of the basic physical principles underlying satellite precipitation estimation methods trying to make the audience aware of what the sensors actually "measure" (radiation properties) and how these measurements are converted into precipitation intensity. All the methods, either based on "passive" or "active" sensing, are necessarily indirect and thus a clear understanding of the physics of radiation and of cloud hydrometeors is needed for the correct use of the products. In fact, such understanding helps in identifying the limitations of the existing precipitation products, which are too often used improperly or taken for granted. The lecture will try to pave the way to the in depth lectures of the other instructors on more specific topics of the discipline.
Satellite-Derived Rain Rate from Microwave Sensors Aboard Polar-Orbiting Satellites (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Polar-orbiting microwave sensor generated rain rate estimates are the most accurate satellite-derived estimates of rainfall because of their direct relationship between liquid and ice hydrometeors and surface precipitation. People may find that surprising because the timeliness, latency and spatial resolution are inferior to geostationary satellite rain estimates. But the primary advantage that microwave sensors aboard operational polar orbiters have over geostationary satellites is the ability to see through the clouds and capture what is below the cloud tops. The current operational polar-orbiting satellite sensors aboard the DMSP (SSMI/S sensor) and NOAA/METOP/S-NPP satellites (AMSU/MHS and ATMS sensors) that generate instantaneous areal average microwave rain rates will be presented and explained, along with the recent development of combining these measurements into a Blended Rain Rate Product and an additional blended product called QMORPH. In the future polar-orbiting microwave rain rates will be used as a calibration of the next generation of geostationary satellite-derived rain estimates. A few recent case studies of the best use of operational microwave rain rates will also be shown, as well as those from more research-oriented missions, such as GCOM (AMSR-2 sensor) and GPM (GPI sensors) that are also used in operations.
CMORPH: Refinement of the technical aspects of the second generation CMORPH (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
As reported at the AMS annual meeting of 2015, a prototype system was developed for the second generation CMORPH to produce global analyses of 30-min precipitation on a 0.05degr.lat/lon grid over the entire globe from pole to pole through integration of information from satellite observations as well as numerical model simulations. The second generation CMORPH is built upon the Kalman Filter based CMORPH algorithm of Joyce and Xie (2011). Inputs to the system include rainfall and snowfall rate retrievals from passive microwave (PMW) measurements aboard all available low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, precipitation estimates derived from infrared (IR) observations of geostationary (GEO) as well as LEO platforms, and precipitation simulations from numerical global models. Key to the success of the 2nd generation CMORPH, among a couple of other elements, are the development of a LEO-IR based precipitation estimation to fill in the polar gaps and objectively analyzed cloud motion vectors to capture the cloud movements of various spatial scales over the entire globe. In this presentation, we report our recent work on the LEO-IR based precipitation estimation.
The prototype algorithm for the LEO IR precipitation estimation is refined to achieve improved quantitative accuracy and consistency with PMW retrievals. AVHRR IR TBB data from all LEO satellites are first remapped to a 0.05° lat/lon grid over the entire globe and in a 30-min interval. Temporally and spatially co-located data pairs of the LEO TBB and inter-calibrated combined satellite PMW retrievals (MWCOMB) over the tropics and mid latitudes and CloudSat radar precipitation over high latitudes and polar regions are then collected to construct tables. Precipitation at a grid box is derived from the TBB through matching the PDF tables for the TBB and the MWCOMB/Cloudsat-precipitation. This procedure is implemented for different season, latitude band and underlying surface types to account for the variations in the cloud - precipitation relationship.
Quantitative experiments are conducted to optimize the LEO IR based precipitation estimation technique using MWCOMB/CloudSat.
Overview of Microwave Products (Webcast, 40 minutes), 2012
Since 1992 operational NOAA satellite analysts and forecasters have used polar orbiting microwave products to complement and supplement geostationary satellite, observational and computer model data to further improve precipitation forecasts. My session will provide an overview of current SSMIS and NOAA/MetOp MHS and AMSU polar orbiting microwave products, like Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and Rain Rate (RR) and how they can be used to help enhance precipitation forecasts with an emphasis on the eastern North Atlantic Ocean into the European continent. From these different individual satellite sensors microwave TPW and RR products have come a new class of satellite product called "the blended or merged product" that will also be discussed, displayed and compared with EUMETSAT geostationary satellite imagery. A case study showing these blended/merged TPW and RR products for the February 2010 Madeira storm will also be shown.
TOA Radiation GERB Datasets (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
Nicolas Clerbaux presents the GERB radiation products of the Climate Monitoring SAF. Radiation parameters at the top of the atmosphere are especially important for atmospheric modelling. To derive information on radiation conditions at the top of the atmosphere satellites are the only data source. This presentation covers the basic retrieval principals, technical information on the data as well as application examples.
Surface Radiation Retrieval (Webcast, 45 minutes) 2012
In this first part of the presentation on short wave solar radiation fluxes, Rebekka Posselt explains the algorithms used for calculation of the products from MeteoSat first generation satellite data. Two algorithms are presented; MagicSol for the retrieval of historical radiation data and a lookup table method for the operational radiation products. In the second part of the presentation, Aku Riihelä explains the (Surface ALbedo) SAL retrieval algorithm. He also gives an introduction on the various corrections applied to the data to take into account for topography, surface characteristics and sun elevation.
Thermal Radiation (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
The first block of this session presents the physical principles and algorithms underlying the retrieval of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and emissivity from satellite observations. Both geostationary, GEO (MSG) and low-orbit, LEO (Metop) satellite advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Emphasis of the presentation is on the methodologies used by LSA SAF for deriving these LST and emissivity products. The presentation also gives focus on the assessment of the uncertainty associated to the retrievals and respective validation is given.
Second part of this presentation is dedicated to algorithms used in the estimation of one of the components of the surface radiation budget - Down-welling Surface Long-wave Fluxes, i.e. DSLF. This product is derived from MSG SEVIRI instrument within LSA SAF. Problematics of firs 100m atmosphere long-wave radiation is also well discussed. Presented are examples and validation results that put into evidence the strengths and caveats of this product. Current status and further developments (CDOP2) will follow.
Radiation Applications (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
This presentation gives various applications of LSA SAF radiation products that we can find in four production areas for MSG satellite; Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Africa and Sothern America. Firstly, variability (both seasonal and spatial) that we can find in albedo fields are discussed together with signatures, or features you can look for in LST fields. Relations between LST and vegetation, which comes from the fact that vegetation is controlling temperature by means of evapotranspiration are also shown here. Another application of radiation product is diagnosing of various models via land surface temperature. At the end of presentation there are some words about long-wave and shot wave surface radiation budget, which are strongly influenced by clouds at seasonal scale.
Solar Radiation (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
Land surface albedo quantifies the fraction of energy reflected by the surface of the Earth. As a corollary it then also determines the fraction of energy absorbed by the surface and transformed into heat or latent energy. Land surface albedo therefore is a key variable for characterizing the energy balance in the coupled surface-atmosphere system and constitutes an indispensable input quantity for soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer models. On the other hand, the down-welling surface short-wave radiation flux (DSSF) refers to the radiative energy in the wavelength interval [0.3 to 4.0 microns] reaching the Earth's surface per time and surface unit. It essentially depends on the solar zenith angle, on cloud coverage, and to a lesser extent on atmospheric absorption and surface albedo.
First presentation is devoted to an introduction of method retrievals for surface albedo and DSSF products that are implemented in framework of the LSA SAF in using MSG /SEVIRI observations. A second presentation will detail the validation exercise of these two LSA SAF operational products, which is based on inter-comparison with other satellite products, in situ measurements and outputs from NWP models.
SAFs
Improvement of cloud products with MTG-I (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) will see the launch of six new satellites from 2021. MTG-I will embark a VIS/IR imager and a lightning imager. The talk details the improvement of NWCSAF/GEO cloud products using new MTG-I capabilities. The new channels will help for the detection of thin cirrus and will improve the cloud phase identification. Cloud products will take advantage of the enhanced spatial resolution, particularly, for the separation between cumuliform and stratiform clouds. Finally, the use of lightning imager should be useful for convection identification.
NWCSAF MSG precipitation products and their applications (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Eumetsat satellite derived or satellite-NWP combined precipitation estimators like Multi-Sensor Precipitation Estimate (MPE) and Nowcasting SAF Convective Rainfall Rate (PGE05 CRR) or Cloud Physical Properties Convective Rainfall Rate (PGE14 CRPh) are best used for precipitation diagnostic and analysis in convective environment. Full benefit of those products is best demonstrated in the regions with none or poor meteorological radars coverage. As with any satellite derived estimator/product, there are both benefits and limitations.
Here we will focus on Nowcasting SAF precipitation products derived from EUMETSAT MSG SEVIRI BS satellite data with the aid of numerical weather predictions from ECMWF and/or ALADIN models. Those products are being used operationally at DHMZ.
NWCSAF PPS precipitation product (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Anke Thoss starts her presentation with some thoughts on satellite derived rain rates and rain probabilities from LEO and GEO satellites. She points out that satellite derived rainfall products are especially helpful in regions without radar coverage. The precipitating cloud product is presented with an outline of the product algorithm. She demonstrates the product which is visualized in RGB colours reflecting the likelihood of instantaneous precipitation classes. A product validation based on version 2008 (product unchanged since then) is presented. The presentation ends with a look into the future, the MetOp second generation and its impact on the precipitation product.
NWC-SAF: Convective Rainfall Product (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
The Convective Rainfall Rate (CRR) product, included in the NWCSAF/MSG software package, estimates rain rates on convective and to convection associated stratiform events. The current version of the package includes estimations of rain intensities through two different approaches. A detailed explanation of them will be presented. Also a comparison, focusing on the weakness and strength of the results provided by both algorithms, will be shown.
NWC-SAF: Rapid Developing Thunderstorm Product (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
The Rapidly Developing Thunderstorm product provides in object-mode information about significant convective systems. Various attributes describe the convective system: cloud-top temperature and height, overshooting tops, morphological attributes. The product uses the satellite brightness temperature of various channels and optional data like NWP data, lightning data and other NWCSAF products. A nowcast of convective systems is developed for 2016.
A new NWCSAF product (Convection Initiation - the probability of a cloudy pixel to become a thunderstorm) is also developed.
Evaluation of NWC-SAF Precipitation Products for the Adriatic Sea (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2015
Croatian Adriatic coast is one of the rainiest areas in Europe. Large parts of the coast are not covered by the Croatian Radar network. The Croatian Weather Service (DHMZ) uses data from the NWC-SAF precipitation products to complement Radar data. Results from a validation campaign, using Radar and rain gauge data, will be shown in this presentation.
Hydro-SAF precipitation products (Webcast, 49 minutes), 2015
The Satellite Application Facility for supporting operational hydrology and water management (H-SAF), established in 2005 as part of the EUMETSAT SAF network, is designed to provide the user community with new satellite-derived products from existing and future satellites with sufficient time and space resolution to satisfy the needs of operational hydrology. Three hydrological variables are considered(soil moisture, snow at the ground and precipitation) and a number of related parameters are made available to the user community, with a quantitative description of their accuracy.
Precipitation products are derived from algorithms based on different satellite data (active and passive microwave, visible/infrared) and approaches (artificial neural network, Bayesian statistics, pattern recognition) to provide the most advanced set of precipitation product over Europe, and, in the next future, over Africa. The use of H-SAF precipitation products to study the severe meteorological events occurred in Italy in the autumn 2014 showed their potential as additional tools in monitoring heavy rainfall, especially in cases when conventional, ground-based instruments are not able to fully describe the precipitation pattern and intensity.
The SAF Products - an Overview (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2014
SAFs are dedicated centers of excellence for processing satellite data, achieved by utilizing specialist expertise from the Member States. SAFs generate and disseminate operational EUMETSAT products and services and are an integral part of the distributed EUMETSAT Application Ground Segment.
Each SAF is led by the National Meteorological Service (NMS) of a EUMETSAT Member State, in association with a consortium of EUMETSAT Member States and Cooperating States, government bodies and research institutes. The lead NMS is responsible for the management of each complete SAF project. The research, data and services provided by the SAFs complement the standard meteorological products delivered by EUMETSAT's central facilities in Darmstadt, Germany.
Precipitation Products from the Hydrology SAF: Part 1: Current status and future development
Precipitation Products from the Hydrology SAF: Part 2: Application to extreme event monitoring (Webcast, 64 minutes), 2014
Within the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management (H-SAF), different precipitation products have been developed. The products exploit either measurements from passive microwave (PMW) radiometers on board polar orbiting satellites, or combination of Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) IR observations with the available PMW precipitation estimates. Some of the products are currently operational (http://hsaf.meteoam.it), and are available for near-real time precipitation monitoring and hydrological applications. Others are being improved and extended to satellites that have become recently operational [i.e., the polar orbiting Core Observatory of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, (GPM), or the NPP Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, ATMS)] or that will be operational in the near future (i.e., Meteosat Third Generation. MTG). The H-SAF precipitation products will be presented, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, and potentials of the current products, and future perspectives offered by the products in development will be outlined.
Convection - Rapid Development Thunderstorms (RDT) (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
RDT-CW (Rapid Development Thunderstorm Convection Warning) product is an object-oriented diagnostic for convective clouds or cells. RDT-CW is mainly based on satellite data. RDT-CW software tracks clouds, identifies those that are convective (discrimination), and provides some descriptive attributes for their dynamics. Year after year many attributes have been added to the convection object. These improvements offer end-users the possibility to focus on specific parameters according to their center of interest: dynamic of the system (cooling rate, motion vector) lightning activity, rainfall, main cloud phase of the cell, etc. These attributes may come from various sources such as NWP data, other PGEs (Product Generation Element), lightning network. In the v2013 release, an overshooting top detection inside RDT cell is proposed to users. This new attribute allows to focus on potentially hazardous areas.
In the future releases the description of convective cells will be enriched, giving a high priority to the use of other SAFNWC products. A nowcast of RDT up to one hour will be implemented.
Several SAFNWC processing chains are implemented at Meteo-France over various geographical areas: those covered by MSG of course, but also those covered by other geostationary satellites, like overseas territory where Meteo-France centers are still implemented. Forecasters in these centers are the main users to benefit from RDT as an additional product. Productions over Europe and Africa benefit to Aeronautical forecasters from Meteo-France's National Forecast center, to French Army, and also to ACMAD, Niamey.
A target visualization tool with nowcasting capabilities will be presented, which allows taking advantage from RDT end-product. Presentation of RDT for various situations and over various areas will also be undertaken, and the latest development implemented in v2013 release will be highlighted.
Met. Systems - Automatic Satellite Image Interpretation (ASII) (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
PGE10 of the SAFNWC/MSG provides an automatic satellite image interpretation in terms of conceptual models (CMs). Conceptual models are important tools for forecasters in diagnosis, nowcasting and very short-range forecasting; they describe a synthesis of typical features in satellite images as well as in other synoptic material (for instance numerical model output parameters) and the physical processes causing them. A CM diagnosis cannot only be used for detection of an ongoing process but also for the determination of the stage of development within this process.
This presentation will focus on the practical applications of ASII by showing examples of analyzed synoptic weather situations.
In a second talk, Eunha Sohn from the Korean Meteorological Service will talk about applications of NWC SAF modules such as RDT, CRR, HRW and ASII in KMA, ongoing works and future works related to NWC SAF.
PPS - Cloud Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
The PPS package for Polar orbiting satellites produces Cloud Products for NOAA, METOP and the NPP-Suomi satellites. Products available are Cloud mask (CM), Cloud Type (CT), Cloud Top Temperature and Height (CTTH) and Cloud Physical Properties (CPP) during day CPP validated outputs are cloud phase and cloud liquid water path, as well as the auxiliary output fields cloud optical thickness, effective droplet radius and ice water path.
While the software package was originally aimed at producing NWC products for local satellite receiving stations, a subset of cloud products (CT and CTTH) are now also available in near real time via EUMETCAST within the NWC-EARS service.
In a second talk, Thomas Heinemann will present the EARS-NWC service. Data from the SAFNWC PPS package are computed at EUMETSAT headquarter and distributed via Eumetcast service to end-users.
GEO - Clear Air Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
Since 2010, the PGE13 SEVIRI Physical Retrieval (SPhR) is available as an operational product of the NWCSAF/MSG software package. The algorithm is based on the physical retrieval algorithm for GOES developed by Dr. Jun Li (CIMSS at Wisconsin University) but using RTTOV as the radiative transfer model and the coefficients adapted for SEVIRI. The PGE13 has been optimized for the purpose of operational implementation; near real time images could be seen on the NWC SAF reference system (http://www.nwcsaf.org).
The improvements on version 2013 of PGE13 are presented first. The main improvement on the 2013 version is that it allows the use as the background NWP input of ECMWF GRIB files on hybrid levels; the 2012 version only allows the use as NWP input of GRIB files on fixed pressure levels.
This step is a small milestone in the exploitation of this kind of MSG L2 products. Now, the spatial and temporal resolution could be used together with vertical resolution provided by the hybrid levels GRIB files to get information of 3D structures. The reason it that the use of hybrid GRIB files as input to the algorithm avoids the stepwise aspect on the vertical cross sections created by the linear interpolation between too separated levels in the fixed pressure levels PGE13 version. Other point is that the local execution of PGE13 allows the generation of optional files with fields like 3D equivalent potential temperature arrays. Thus, forecasters can fully exploit the 3D structure allowing the detection of instability vertical gradients on medium levels.
All these changes allow forecasters the use of the PGE13 for a better monitoring of key ingredients in regions where likely triggering of convective storm could develop and also advise of the regions where the NWP disagree with the PGE13 physical retrieved profiles. The use of PGE13 in several case studies will be presented.
The NWCSAF Clear Air product consists of total and layer water vapour contents and instability indices. This product is retrieved from SEVIRI data for cloud-free pixels. As it can be calculated in 15-minute time step, even in 5-minute time step it is usable to monitor convection ability. Case studies will be presentation and analyzed: cases, when the NWP forecasted and the satellite retrieved convective environmental parameters are close to each other and when not. We will show selected cases when the NWCSAF Clear Air product has added value compared to the NWP forecast. The effect of the undetected clouds is also analysed.
As optional output the whole retrieved temperature and humidity profiles can be study. We show a case when the retrieved profiles were also analyzed. Statistical results will be presented on using the satellite retrieved Clear Air environmental parameters to separate stable from unstable environments and the environment where forming severe storm is not likely from the environment where it is possible.
GEO - High Resolution Winds (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
The "NWC SAF/HRW High Resolution Winds" provides a detailed calculation of Atmospheric Motion Vectors locally and in near real time. It calculates the AMVs considering cloud and humidity patterns in up to seven different MSG/SEVIRI channels (HRVIS, VIS06, VIS08, WV062, WV073, IR108, IR120), together with NWP data and the "NWC SAF Cloud products (Cloud type, Cloud top temperature and height)".
It considers up to two tracer scales (Basic and detailed), two tracer determination methods (Gradient and tracer characteristics), two tracking methods (Euclidean distance or cross correlation), and two Height level assignment methods (Brightness temperature interpolation method and Cross correlation contribution method). As other AMV products worldwide it also includes a quality control flagging based on the Quality Indicator Method developed at EUMETSAT.
NWC SAF/HRW product can be useful in Nowcasting applications in synergy with other data available to the forecaster: monitoring of low level convergence, divergence at the top of developed systems, or other cases of small scale circulation or wind singularities. It can also be used as an input in analysis and forecasting applications like NWP models. The development and main characteristics of the product are explained with examples, useful for the potential users to know what the product can offer. The validation results related to the latest version on the product (HRW v4.0) are also explained.
The role of the Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMV) in the modern data assimilation systems is evident nowadays. The AMVs - along with satellite observations - have an important key for our operational ALADIN data assimilation system as well. In the framework of the EUMETSAT SAF High Resolution Winds (HRW) products had been developed by AEMET for Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecasting purposes. The HRW products provide quasi real time data of AMVs from MSG HRVIS and IR10.8 channels every hour in a day. A collaboration between AEMET and OMSZ have been focused to compare the benefit of the operationally used AMVs (received through the EumetCAST) with the newly processed HRW winds. Recent work was an extensive evaluation and monitoring of the assimilation and forecast system. The impact of the AMV winds was examined using different diagnostic techniques, verifications tools and case studies. The first results are promising regarding the use of the HRW AMV. The statistical scores on the full domain showed neutral or slightly positive impact in most of the parameters and the experiment based on HRW AMV data provided better estimate of extreme precipitation events.
Introduction to the NWCSAF and NWCSAF Operations (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
In the first presentation, Pilar Fernández gives an introduction to the NWCSAF. The general objective of the NWC SAF is to provide operational services to ensure optimum use of meteorological satellite data in Nowcasting and Very Short-Range Forecasting. To achieve this goal, the NWC-SAF is responsible for the development and maintenance of both satellite derived products and of appropriate SW Packages, as well as user support and related tasks. This lecture intends to provide an overview of the NWC SAF project including objectives, consortium composition, phases, organization, services and products.
In the second part, Ana Sánchez Piqué gives a detailed overview of the NWCSAF User Services provided through the Helpdesk tool. The attendants will be shown the different services available for users and also the information available for non-users. Some statistics about the Helpdesk use made by the users (Mail Box, SPR, etc..) will also be shown.
GEO - Cloud Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
In this 30-minute presentation, Hervé Le Gléau (MFL) gives an overview of the cloud products that can be retrieved from the MSG/NWCSAF software. These products are the cloud mask (including dust and volcanic ash flag), the cloud type (including the cloud thermodynamic phase), and the cloud top temperature and height. The algorithms will be outlined and some validation results presented. Finally, short information will be given on the new cloud microphysics product planned in the NWC/GEO software version 2015.
In a second talk, Thomas Krennert from ZAMG will present case studies using the NWCSAF Cloud Products.
GEO - Precipitation Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2013
To provide the forecasters with tools for severe weather events monitoring with a suitable spatial and temporal resolution is very important. The NWCSAF project develops several products to make easier forecasters their nowcasting tasks.
The NWCSAF/MSG software package contains two products devoted to precipitation. Precipitating Clouds (PC) product assigns a probability of precipitation occurrence on each SEVIRI pixel. Convective Rainfall Rate (CRR) product estimates rain rates on convective, and stratiform associated to convection, events. The algorithms, on which those products are based, have currently two different approaches.
PC product takes advantage of surface temperatures and of those SEVIRI spectral features which have the highest correlation with precipitation, to construct a Precipitation Index (PI). According to this PI, which has been calibrated against rain gauges, a likelihood of precipitation occurrence is assigned to each SEVIRI pixel. CRR algorithm assigns rain rates to each pixel according to some SEVIRI channel information and some calibration functions, which have been calibrated using radar data. The influences of environmental and orographic effects on the precipitation distribution are taken into account through some corrections that use NWP data. Besides, two new products are included in the NWCSAF/MSG v2013 software package. These products also estimate the probability of precipitation and convective rainfall rates using a common approach, which takes advantage of cloud microphysical properties.
In a second talk, Natasa Strelec-Mahovic will present applications of the NWCSAF Precipitation Products.
Nowcasting Applications (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2012
This lesson, given by Maria Putsay from Hungarian Meteorological Service, is about derived products for nowcasting applications. Objectives of the Nowcasting SAF are development of Nowcasting products derived from MSG and Polar satellite systems, delivering of the SW Packages to users and User's support task through Help Desk. Two software packages for producing products for nowcasting purposes are SAFNWC/MSG (for geostationary satellites) and SAFNWC/PPS (for polar satellites) and the overview of these are given here. Products may be used in two ways; as an input to a program (e.g. to an objective meso-scale analysis or as intermediate product input to other products) and as a final image product for display at a forecaster's desk, or case studied. But the main aim is firs one mentioned. Also in this lecture applications of the NWC SAF products at the Hungarian Meteorological Service are discussed.
Nowcasting Products from Polar Orbits (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2012
The EUMETSAT SAF to support Nowcasting (NWCSAF) develops two software packages, one for Geostationary imagery and one for polar satellite imagery. Both packages retrieve Cloud and other parameters relevant for Nowcasting and short range forecasting. The Polar Platform System (PPS) software package retrieves information on clouds and precipitation. The parameters/products derived are, Cloud Mask, Cloud Type, Cloud Top Temperature and Height, Precipitating Clouds, and a number of cloud microphysical parameters (e.g. liquid water path and cloud phase). The first version of PPS was released in 2004, and it was originally developed to run on local direct readout data from NOAA and Metop (AVHRR and AMSU/MHS). But recently it has been extended to run also on NPP/VIIRS data. And PPS is now also capable of running on many different data formats and services. It is currently being introduced on the EARS Network to run on NOAA19 and Metop-A. In this presentation Adam Dybbroe will give an overview of how PPS works, but the main focus will be on the parameters and products that can be derived with PPS, and how they can be used in Nowcasting applications.
Precipitation within Hydro-SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
Monitoring and measurement of precipitation from satellite is an important capability for many types of users, such as the Meteorological Services, Hydro-geological Services and the structures of civil protection. The consortium H-SAF, within EUMETSAT, has among its objectives to provide continuous operational products for instantaneous measurement of rainfall using data from microwave instruments, on-board polar satellites, in synergy with the infrared data of the geostationary satellite MSG. In addition to the production operation, the HSAF provides validation service on each product and carries out independent validation of the benefits of the novel H-SAF satellite-derived data on hydrological practical applications.
Aerosol information from the O3M-SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
Aerosols are small liquid or solid particles in the atmosphere, like soil dust, sulphate and nitrate droplets, organic compounds, volcanic ash, etc. Aerosols affect weather and climate by reflection and absorption of sunlight, by affecting cloud formation and precipitation, and by reducing visibility. Satellite detection of aerosols is often difficult because of the relatively weak reflectance of aerosols as compared to clouds and the background reflection of the underlying surface. Using UV-Visible spectrometers like OMI and GOME-2, UV absorbing aerosols like biomass burning smoke, volcanic ash and desert dust can be detected, even in cloudy cases and over land surfaces. In this presentation the current and future aerosol products from GOME-2 available from the O3MSAF will be introduced.
Surface Radiation Climate Dataset (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
CM-SAF provides a surface radiation climate dataset derived from Meteosat satellites covering the period 1983 - 2005 and the area seen by the Meteosat satellite located at 0° longitude and 0° latitude. This presentation given by Rebekka Posselt provides an overview on the dataset ranging from technical information, such as spatial resolution, time resolution, radiation variables covered by the dataset, accuracy of the data to some real world application examples.
Operational Products of the Climate Monitoring SAF (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
In addition to the climate datasets covering time periods of 2 decades or more, CM-SAF also provides operational products. While the climate datasets need several years to be available, the operational products are available within 8 weeks. The operational products available at CM-SAF are introduced together with the most important technical details and some application examples.
Climate Monitoring SAF (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2012
The presenter starts her overview with general statements on climate and the CM-SAF consortium. Afterwards she depicts the global energy flows and shows which of the flows is monitored by the CM-SAF. To measure these fluxes, geostationary and polar orbiting satellites are used; an overview of the different sensors is given. The difference between CM-SAF products and data sets is explained. The presentation finishes by some close-up looks on CM-SAF climate data sets and operational products.
Ocean and Sea Ice SAF Products and Services (Webcast, 4 minutes), 2012
This short presentation on OSI-SAF radiative fluxes Products and Services is given by Pierre Le Borgne from Meteo-France. Two main products that are described here are Surface Solar Irradiance (SSI) product and Downward Longwave Irradiance (DLI) product. For SSI product, physical parametrization is applied and for DLI product bulk parametrization. What is derived from satellite is the visible channel for SSI and cloud precipitation DLI. Hourly SSI and DLI products and the flux validation results are also shown in this lecture.
Ocean and Sea Ice SAF Wind Products (Webcast, 21 minutes), 2012
Another presenter from the OSI-SAF, Anton Verhoef (KNMI), did a lecture on Wind products which are closely related to the concept of scatterometry. Scatterometer is a main instrument that is gathering information on ocean winds. It is a radar instrument mounted on a satellite. In this lecture the explanation of principle of scatterometry is given along with explanation of deriving wind fields from scatterometer data. Also there is brief overview of currently available wind products and of tools and methods which are available for visualisation and monitoring of the information. At the end of presentation some words will be given about Quality information and Data formats.
Nowcasting SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
The general objective of the Nowcasting Satellite Application Facility (NWC-SAF) is to provide operational services to ensure the optimum use of meteorological satellite data in Nowcasting and Very Short-Range Forecasting by targeted users. This is applicable to the MSG and the PPS satellite systems. To achieve this goal, the SAFNWC is responsible for the development and maintenance of appropriate SW Packages, as well as of all related tasks for user's support. Moreover, the SAFNWC intends to be a Centre of Excellence for Nowcasting in EUMETSAT.
Satellite Application Facility (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Rapid Developing Thunderstorms (RDT) (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Presentation during the Convection Week 2011 by Jean-Marc Moisselin on the update to the Rapid Developing Thunderstorm (RDT) product of the NWC SAF.
SEVIRI Physical Retrieval (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
The SEVIRI Physical Retrieval (SPhR) algorithm retrieves the atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles as well as surface skin temperature for one clear sky SEVIRI pixel, or a Field-Of-Regard (FOR) with contains M x M pixels. The central aim of the SPhR is to provide information on the water vapor contained in a vertical column of unit cross-section area in several layers in the troposphere and to provide some instability indices. These parameters are calculated from the retrieved profiles of temperature and humidity.
Concerns about the Earth's climate have increased the need not only for international control of greenhouse gases but also for climate monitoring on a global scale. Only space-based observations can deliver this type of global data and the CM-SAF uses these data to provide the European contribution towards climate research. CM-SAF aims at the provision of satellite-derived geophysical parameter data sets suitable for climate monitoring. CM-SAF provides climatologies for Essential Climate Variables (ECV), as required by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) implementation plan in support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Developed under the leadership of Deutscher Wetterdienst, the German Meteorological Service, in partnership with the Finnish, Belgian, Dutch, Swedish and Swiss National Meteorological Services, the CM-SAF entered its Continuous Development and Operations Phase in 2007 after an initial operations phase had started in 2004.
The CM-SAF data products are categorized in monitoring data sets obtained in near real time and data sets based on carefully intersensor calibrated radiances. The homogenous sets of high-quality data help scientists to investigate climate variability and long-term changes in the climate mean state. The products are derived from several instruments on-board meteorological operational satellites in geostationary and polar orbit as the Meteosat and EUMETSAT Polar System satellites, respectively. The data are archived and made accessible for study via this web site. Two important aspects of the long-term studies facilitated by the CM-SAF will be the monitoring and assessing of natural versus man-made climate changes and observations of climate changes in different scales of time and space.
The CM-SAF's expanding suite of products is tailored for applications focusing on key aspects of the Earth's atmospheric water and energy cycles and includes cloud parameters, radiation budget parameters (surface and top of the atmosphere) as well as temperature and humidity (water vapour) in the atmosphere.
Land Surface Analysis SAF Products and Applications (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
This session is a wrap up of all applications of LSA-SAF products, feedback from users (annual revision by technical and scientific review panels), lessons learned and roadmap for the next phase (2012-2017).
The presentation is divided into three parts; general description of LSA-SAF; applications of LSA-SAF products; and the way forward, i.e. perspectives of LSA-SAF.
Land Surface Analysis SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
The main purpose of the Land SAF is to increase the benefits from MSG and EPS data related to land, land-atmosphere interactions and biophysical applications, namely by developing techniques, products and algorithms that will allow a more effective use of data from the two planned EUMETSAT satellites.
Although directly designed to improve the observation of meteorological systems, the spectral characteristics, time resolution and global coverage offered by MSG and EPS allow for their use in a broad spectrum of other applications, namely within the scope of land biophysical applications.
Activities to be performed within the framework of the Land SAF shall involve the development of products that are especially relevant in the following fields of application:
Weather forecasting and climate modelling, which require detailed information on the nature and properties of land. Highest Land SAF priority should be towards the meteorological community and, within that community, NWP has been already identified as the one that has the greatest potential of fully exploit the products
Environmental management and land use, which require information on land cover type and land cover changes (e.g. provided by biophysical parameters or thermal characteristics)
Natural hazards management, which requires frequent observations of terrestrial surfaces in both the solar and thermal bands
Climatological applications and climate change detection
Products of the Ocean and Sea Ice SAF (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Steinar Eastwood will present the operational Sea Ice products from the Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility, both scientific and technical. Ongoing activities to improve the current products and develop new will be discussed and some examples of how the products are used will be shown.
Satellite Derived Winds
Scatterometer winds for near real-time support to mesoscale forecasting (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2018
Winds over sea are essential for marine forecasting and used in nowcasting and numerical weather prediction (NWP) to aid in off-shore activities (energy sector, transport, fisheries and recreation), particularly to secure safety of life and property. Winds over sea are observed by satellites and available from NWP model forecasts. Most satellite winds over sea are provided by scatterometers; they provide swath fields of both wind speed and wind direction from polar satellites. Currently, winds from EUMETSAT's MetOp-A, MetOp-B and the Indian ScatSat-1 are operationally available and provide good coverage around 9:00 and 21:00 local solar time (LST). Very soon they will be complemented by a few more. The lecture focuses on what scatterometer winds really represent, how good they are and what aspects need attention when applying these winds in your routine operations alongside with NWP model winds.
Sea Surface Wind Vectors (Webcast, 117 minutes), 2017
The lecture deals with modelled winds and winds derived from instruments onboard satellites like Metop-A and Metop-B in low orbits around the Earth (polar orbits). Today's models are evolving at a rate that is faster than the increase of density of observations and that presents a problem for forecasts. Here stands the question 'Will meteorology continue to develop and improve?'. The lack of observed data is thus filled with the data from satellites, although this data also has its own constraints due to the way it is derived. In the lecture the characteristics of the satellites carrying instruments for measuring winds and waves will be explained and the logic behind the calculations of winds using satellites will be discussed.
Scatterometer data are used for many different purposes in marine meteorology, e.g. warnings, enhancement of situational awareness for winds, monitoring of storm evolution, low pressure systems, etc., therefore marine forecasters using the products about wind and waves from satellites will be instructed how to use them and when to combine the data with model outputs.
Satellite Derived Winds (Product Tutorial, 120 minutes), 2017
Satellite-derived wind data and products are used for a wide range of applications in the field of oceanography, meteorology and air/sea interactions. This product tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of the various types of satellite derived winds and their applications. You will learn more about the measuring principles and the different instruments involved in the retrieving process.
Satellite Derived Ocean Surface Winds (Webcast, 36 minutes), 2012
Ocean surface vector winds derived from polar satellite based scatterometers (radars) allow marine forecasters to view high resolution wind fields over the global ocean. Operational forecasters first access to near real time ocean vector winds began in the early 1990s with the launch of ERS-1 and followed by ERS-2, NASA's NSCAT and QuikSCAT. Of these instruments QuikSCAT, during its ten-year life span, provided a wide swath capability allowing forecasters to see entire storms in a single swath. Today, ASCAT on Metop-A, OSCAT on Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) OceanSat-2 satellite and in the near future ASCAT-B on Metop-B will continue to provide global coverage. Scatterometer winds provide forecasters a high resolution "sea" truth, give an enhanced situational awareness, the ability to assess the validity of numerical model initial conditions and short term forecasts, and the location and intensity of warning criteria winds. This talk will discuss the above issues by giving examples and also discuss how to interpret remotely sensed ocean winds.
Polar Winds (Webcast, 37 minutes), 2012
Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs) have been derived from geostationary satellites since late seventies. In 2001, an experimental polar wind product has been developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's (CIMSS) using imagery from MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. Filling the lack of observational data over Polar Regions this product demonstrated a global positive impact on the forecast not only over polar areas. Following the initial CIMSS developments, EUMETSAT recently started to extract polar winds from METOP AVHRR instrument. Regis Borde's session will provide some general information about the current status of polar winds product and about its extraction. The general methodology to derive polar winds from satellite images is mainly based on the heritage used for geostationary satellites, but some specific problems had to be considered due to larger timeliness between consecutive images, to characteristics of the instruments and to specificities of polar areas atmosphere.
Ocean Surface Winds and Sea Level Altimetry (Webcast, 30 minutes) 2012
ASCAT Data (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
This is the first presentation in a series of 5 on the Polarstern Project. Polarstern is a German Research vessel for ocean and arctic science. Mark Higgins presents the EUMeTrain web page dedicated to the Polarstern Project accompanying the journey of the vessel in the South Atlantic Sea. He gives a closer look to the ASCAT data available on the Polarstern page and explains the measurement principles of the instrument. A comparison between ASCAT and OSCAT observation geometry is given. Finally, he also shows sea level altimetry data from Jason-2 and compares this data with NWP model output.
The Xynthia Storm by ASCAT (Training Module, 120 minutes), 2012
This case study covers the development of storm Xynthia. Xynthia evolved out of a low pressure system which formed east of the Bermuda and lasted for 8 days. The storm was well depicted in satellite imagery and showed strong convective activity over the Atlantic. When approaching Western Europe and crossing Northern Europe, Xynthia was mainly a windstorm with gusts exceeding 150 km/h. The module briefly describes the functional principle of the ASCAT sensor and illustrates how measurement is performed and wind speed is retrieved. A comparison of ASCAT winds with NWP and surface winds is given, showing the benefits and drawbacks of each data source. Chapter 2 of the case study investigates the storms life cycle. In combination with satellite images, ASCAT wind data are plotted revealing deeper insight into the wind circulation close to ocean surface. The detailed analysis of the wind fields shows additional information on the position of the surface fronts and the location of pressure minima. Ongoing measurements of wind speed and direction from ASCAT is compared with NWP data and surface observations. The life cycle of storm Xynthia, from its real beginning over the Atlantic until its filling over the North Sea, is followed. During this time, Xynthia was covered 8 times by overpasses of the ASCAT sensor. Chapter 4 allows the user to combine satellite images, ASCAT data and NWP prognostic data in the ePort environment for 6 time steps within storm Xynthia's life cycle.
MPEF Divergence Product (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2011
Presentation by Christo Georgiev during the Event Week on Convection in June 2011. The presentation concentrates on the use of the MPEF Divergence Product for diagnosing the divergence associated with upper-level wind field disturbances that produces forcing for ascent and favors the development of deep moist convection.
Monitoring snow with satellite and model data (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2010
Niilo Siljamo (FMI, Finland) will introduce the snow cover product (SC) based on MSG/SEVIRI. He will describe the main parts of the algorithm with attention to various cases of snow cover.
In the second part, Nuno Moreira (IM, Portugal) will talk about snow products derived from MSG during the unusual snow events that have occurred in Portugal between November 2008 and February 2009.
Hydrology and climatology of snow (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2010
Jouni Pulliainen from FMI will present research results and snow products for climate research purposes.
Another speaker from FMI, Panu Lahtinen, will give a short overview of the four snow products being developed in the Eumetsat Satellite application facility on water management and hydrology (H-SAF). The ongoing developments on these products are discussed, and the future goals are shown. Also, some validation results will be shown.
Detecting snow with radar (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2010
In the first part of session 5 Elena Saltikoff (FMI) will talk about diagnosis techniques of snow with radar data more from a theoretical point of view. This talk will include the relevant parameters of the radar equation (di-electricity and diameter), cross sections and reflectivity profiles with bright band and dBZ-gradients. It was also discussed, how different fallspeeds of drops and snowflakes affect the dBZ values. Some applications of polarimetric radar will be considered at the end of this talk.
During the second part of this session Wilfried Jacobs (DWD) will discuss practical examples for diagnosis of precipitation types from radar data and will relate this kind of data to other data categories like radio soundings, NWP and observations.
Tropical and Extra Tropical cyclones in the Azores (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2018
Due to the Azores geographical location, this archipelago is occasionally affected by strong Extratropical cyclones and Tropical cyclones. Extratropical cyclones are more frequent in winter and are often associated with strong winds, heavy precipitation and heavy waves which can be damaging and contribute to social and economic distress. Tropical cyclones, on the other hand occur mostly in September and October and in the past have caused loss of lives and property damage. Forecasting this type of systems is very challenging, mostly because a small variation in path can cause large difference in the impacts. This talk presents some tropical and extratropical cyclones that affected the Azores and also the challenges that forecasters face in this situations.
Typhoons (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2014
Christopher Perez, a weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) will gave an insight into Typhoons and their features. Specifically, he presented the chronology of events regarding Typhoon "Haiyan", one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, which devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, on November 8, 2013.
Forecasting Tropical Cyclones in the Medium Range (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2013
In this module the importance of forecasting tropical cyclones (TC) is briefly discussed. An overview is given of the recent developments in the forecast systems at ECMWF with impact on the forecast of TCs, including the recent change in the model's resolution and the implementation of the Ensemble Data Assimilation. At the present time, any TC formed in the forecast system can be identified using a tracker developed at ECMWF. How does it work and what kind of products that can be derived from it is discussed. Some examples are also presented to highlight the model's ability to forecast the genesis of TCs. Finally, the statistics of the forecast performance for TCs is discussed.
Frontal Structures and High Winds in Extratropical Cyclones (Webcast, 20 minutes), 2013
This talk presents new conceptual models in cyclone structures and evolutions. How does the large-scale flow in which the cyclone is embedded determine the type of frontal evolution that occurs? How does the air flow through cyclones, and what can this tell us about the possibility for damaging winds at the surface? This talk concludes with general principles for how forecasters can improve their skill through the use of conceptual models in operational forecasting.
WWW-Briefing - USA (Webcast, 55 minutes), 2013
Dan Bikos received his BS in Meteorology at the State University of New York College at Brockport (1995), and MS in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma (1998). His areas of interest include severe weather, lake-effect snow and applications of satellite imagery to weather forecasting, particularly on the mesoscale. Dan has been a research associate at CIRA since 1998 working for the Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) project in which he develops training for NWS forecasters. Distance learning software (VISITview) combined with a conference call are utilized to deliver the training to NWS forecast offices. Dan has instructed more than 300 hours of live teletraining sessions, primarily dealing with operational applications of satellite imagery.
Medicanes (Webcast, 30 minutes) 2012
The Mediterranean area can be affected by particular cyclones characterized by an unusual life cycle. This life cycle can be divided into two distinct parts: in the initial part the subject has a warm core and an asymmetric structure, which are typical aspects of a tropical storm. In the second part, it evolves rather like a cyclone of middle latitudes, usually explained by the classical theories; its origin is either on the sea as on the desert. These entities generally include extreme events, such as intense convection, strong winds and coastal storm surges; consequently, they assume a significant importance in the diagnostic and forecasting. This lecture will explain the energy contributions and the thermodynamic processes involved in the entire evolution, also describing the various significant aspects making use of adapted diagnostic procedures.
Trace gases
Simulations and evaluation of the transport of the Holuhraun 2014 SO2 emissions with FLEXPART, WRF-chem and satellite data (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
The eruption of Holuhraun in August 2014, in central Iceland, is the country's largest lava and gas eruption since the Lakagígar eruption in 1783. Although very little volcanic ash was produced, large quantities of SO2 were released into the atmosphere. Two models have been used to simulate the dispersion and transport of SO2 for this event, the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART and the on-line coupled model WRF-Chem. Whereas in the FLEXPART calculations no anthropogenic emissions or aqueous-phase chemical reactions are considered, in the WRF-Chem calculations, both are fully included. The results of the simulations are evaluated against satellite (GOME2B and OMI) data, as well as ground based SO2 concentration data. The analysis is conducted on a data management platform, which is currently developed in the frame of the ESA-funded project TAMP "Technology and Atmospheric Mission Platform": it provides comprehensive functionalities to visualize and numerically compare data from different sources (model, satellite and ground-measurements).
15 years or carbon monoxide observations from MOPITT (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) on the NASA Terra spacecraft has been measuring the global atmospheric abundance of carbon monoxide (CO) since March 2000. Carbon Monoxide is mainly produced by incomplete combustion from both natural fires and anthropogenic activities and is also a product of chemical reactions with other air pollutants. These pollution sources have a large effect on both local and downwind air quality, as well as climate change. We will show how satellite measurements of carbon monoxide are used to understand how pollution is emitted and transported globally, from large scale fires to urban sources.
Monitoring of trace-gases, pollution and aerosols with EUMETSAT satellite instruments (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
The monitoring of trace-gases, pollution and aerosols is important both for the quality of current and future weather forecast model output, as well as for the direct monitoring of aircraft safety, pollution levels, and other health related issues. Satellite instruments on-board EUMETSATs operational platforms, like on the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Metop platform, or the Geostationary Orbit (GEO) MSG platform, and their future successors EPS-SG and MTG, provide unique long-term monitoring capabilities of atmospheric composition addressing many of these issues. We will introduce the capabilities of instruments on these platforms to retrieve trace-gases from ozone to nitrogen dioxide, CO and of greenhouse gases like methane, as well as their capability to retrieve aerosol optical and microphysical properties including volcanic ash. We will provide examples on how these products are used in current and future versions of numerical forecast models which include atmospheric chemistry processes, like in the model provided by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS).
GRASP: a versatile algorithm for characterizing properties of the atmospheric aerosol and underlying surface (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2016
The GRASP (Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties) algorithm has been developed for enhanced characterization of the properties of both aerosol and land surface from diverse remote sensing observations. The overall concept of the algorithm is described by Dubovik et al. (2014), while the detailed are given in the paper is by Dubovik et al. (2011). The algorithm is based on highly advanced statistically optimized fitting implemented as Multi-Term Least Square minimization (Dubovik, 2004) and deduces nearly 50 unknowns for each observed site. The algorithm derives a set of aerosol parameters similar to that derived by AERONET including detailed particle size distribution, the spectral dependence on the complex index of refraction and the fraction of non-spherical particles. The algorithm uses detailed aerosol and surface models and fully accounts for all multiple interactions of scattered solar light with aerosol, gases and the underlying surface. All calculations are done on-line without using traditional look-up tables. In addition, the algorithm can use the new multi-pixel concept - a simultaneous fitting of a large group of pixels with additional constraints limiting the time variability of surface properties and spatial variability of aerosol properties. This principle provides a possibility to improve retrieval for multiple observations even if the observations are not exactly co-incident or co-located. Significant efforts have been spent for optimization and speedup of the GRASP computer routine and retrievals from satellite observations. For example, the routine has been adapted for running at GPGPUs accelerators. GRASP inherits many aspects used in AERONET retrieval. At first GRASP has been developed for POLDER/PARASOL multi-viewing imager and later adapted to a number of other satellite sensors such as METEOSAT/MERIS at polar-orbiting platform and COCI/GOMS geostationary observations. It can be equally applied to ground-based AERONET and lidar observations. The results of numerical tests and results of applications to real data will be presented.
Product Tutorial on Total Precipitable Water Content Products (Product Tutorial, 120 minutes), 2015
In this module, we will introduce the concept of "Total Precipitable Water" (TPW) and show how satellite-based products help in estimating the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. The module starts with an overview on measuring principles and algorithms on how to retrieve the water vapour content of the atmosphere. In the second chapter, you will learn more about the different TPW products from geostationary and polar orbiting satellites. Finally, you will see some practical applications of TPW products in nowcasting precipitation events.
Ozone and Trace Gases (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2012
This lecture focuses on the ozone and other minor trace gas products, such as NO2 and SO2, from the GOME-2 and IASI instruments on MetOp. These products are developed in the framework of EUMETSAT's Satellite Application Facility on Ozone and Atmospheric Chemistry Monitoring (O3M-SAF), as part of EUMETSAT's Polar System (EPS) Ground Segment. The O3M-SAF is responsible for the algorithm development, the operational processing, dissemination and archiving of the products, as well as providing User Services. The ozone and minor trace gas products from GOME-2 and IASI are used in research of atmospheric composition, like ozone loss, dynamics, anthropogenic effects, and in applications of environmental security, like monitoring of volcanic eruptions and pollution.
Vegetation Recovery (Webcast, 70 minutes), 2011
Discussion is held on various techniques of mapping burnt areas from remotely sensed data, describing the main sources of errors and strategies to overcome them. Focus of first part of this session is so-called Fire Detection and Monitoring (FD&M) product, which provides continuous monitoring of fire activity over Africa and Europe. This product relies on Fire Detection Algorithm called FiDAlgo (based on so-called contextual algorithms), is an operational procedure that allows active fire detection in near-real-time and is based on information from Meteosat-9, i.e. SEVIRI instrument.
The second part will present applications to the analysis of burnt scars and vegetation recovery, with case studies for the Iberian Peninsula. Operational product for tracking burnt areas LSA-SAF still doesn't have, but presentation gives perspective of rising such. Very simple model for post-fire vegetation recovery is presented and are shown correlations between post fire vegetation recovery dynamics and severity of fire damage.
Evapotranspiration (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
Evapotranspiration is a parameter closely related to vegetation state and stress. This session will show how this quantity is obtained within the LSA SAF. Evapotranspiration is estimated using a land surface model forced with radiation and vegetation variables obtained from SEVIRI measurements. Very interesting Resistance scheme of this model is nicely explained using dividing image pixels into 'tiles' of homogeneous vegetation types. Input and output of this model is also mentioned. Presentation is showing validation and in comparison of results together with possible applications of it.
Vegetation Products (Webcast, 60 minutes), 2011
The current presentation gives an overview on the use of satellite data, particularly that from Meteorological satellites, for monitoring vegetation cover and properties. Some basic physical principles are first presented and then some RGB images are shown, allowing to identify different features in the surface of the earth. Further information on vegetation is given by a wide range of empirical indices, from which one of the most used is the NDVI. There are however some disadvantages on using such vegetation indices. Other parameters more related to vegetation properties and health than these conventional empirical indices are available from the LSA SAF. These are the Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC), the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the fraction of Absorbed Photosyntetically Active Radiation (fAPAR). The algorithm rationale for deriving such parameters is explained and some validation results are presented. Finally, the use of these products in several applications is shown.
Monitoring Vegetation from Space (Training Module, 180 minutes), 2009
The distribution of vegetation, its properties and state, is of major importance for a wide range of applications, namely; environmental management, natural Hazards monitoring, agriculture and forestry, climate change studies and numerical weather forecast models.
Changes in the landcover either caused by changes in land use, climate change or natural hazards (like forest fires or droughts, for instance) may have a huge social and economic impact. An example of this was the severe drought that stroke Eastern Africa in 2009, causing crops to shrink and threatening millions of people with starvation.
Storm surges in the North Sea (Webcast, 45 minutes), 2018
Several countries along the North Sea have densely populated areas and major political and economic activities close to the coast - places that are vulnerable to storm surges. To protect these areas coastal defence requires continuous attention. Several storm surge barriers have been constructed over the last decades that can be closed if the water level rises too high. Examples are the Thames Barrier in London and the Maeslantkering near Rotterdam. To alert local authorities and to operate the movable barriers efficiently, good and timely storm surge forecasts are essential. These forecasts make use of state-of-the-art meteorological forecasts and techniques like ensemble forecasting. This presentation will focus on the situation in The Netherlands, where storm surge forecasts are generated in close cooperation between the Water Management Centre Netherlands (WMCN) of Rijkswaterstaat and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).
Warning Strategies in Germany (Webcast, 35 minutes), 2017
The presentation is about the three-tiered warning system with probabilistic texts days in advance that is used in Germany. The texts consist of pre-warning information about one or two days in advance and severe weather warnings a few hours and up to 12 hours in advance. Warning thresholds for Germany and the ways of delivering these warnings to public are presented along with the software used for this process.
Warning Procedures at MeteoSwiss and the Handling of a Severe Warning Case (Webcast, 31 minutes), 2017
Severe weather warnings at MeteoSwiss started more than thirty years ago, firstly with warnings for heavy precipitation. After the storm 'Lothar' in 2001 warnings for wind, rain and snow have been introduced and then the system was updated in 2009 with new software, NinJo. After this short introduction, Daniel Murer from MeteoSwiss will present us a case that will illustrate the process of issuing warnings and decision making in the Swiss Met Service.
Challenges with Issuing Meteorological Warnings (Webcast, 32 minutes), 2017
Nuno Moreira from Portuguese Met Service (IPMA) is going to show us the current warning system used in Portugal. How are their decisions affected by the impacts that weather may have on wide variety of parameters that can then affect people? Social media are playing an important role in communicating weather information to people nowadays. How to, what and when to communicate certain warnings to people? Nuno will try to answer all of these questions from IPMA's point of view.
How We Use Social Media to Communicate Dangerous Weather Events? (Webcast, 28 minutes), 2017
The Norwegian Met Service (MetNo) uses a wide variety of social media from Facebook and Youtube to Twitter and Instagram for delivering information to people around the country (and world). That way MetNo can post numerous short news, pictures and general weather information that people find appealing because of their shortness and informativity. On the other hand, how are the extreme events reported through such services?
ISTIKE (Webcast, 20 minutes), 2017
Jyri Silmäri starts his talk about what ISTIKE actually is and why was there a need for such collaboration between several rescue services in Finland. The main aim of the project is to provide a rescue center with a joint emergency center in eastern Finland. Jyri Silmári also describes what are the procedures when a certain severe weather event approaches and what are the preparedness levels of the rescue services. What is the role of other institutes?
ANYWHERE in a Nutshell (Webcast, 15 minutes), 2017
ANYWHERE project is a H2020 funded project that aims to develop tools to support coordination of the emergency response operations to face challenge of the extreme weather and climate events. Tuomo Bergman from Finnish Met Service (FMI) tells us that the purpose is to build a Pan-European multi-hazard platform for faster analysis and anticipation of the risk prior to event occurrence, improved coordination of the emergency actions and assist to raise the self-preparedness.
ZAMG Warning Procedures Presented on the Basis of the Late Winter Event from 18th and 19th of April 2017 (Webcast, 22 minutes), 2017
The presentation is delivered on the basis of the polar air outbreak in mid-April 2017 that caused a late winter outbreak in the Alpine area in Austria. Because of that Austrian met service had to reactivate winter maintenance warnings. Thomas Turecek of Austrian Met Service (ZAMG) explains us how did they cope with this event and how are the warnings they issued connected with climatological thresholds for that specific area.
Severe Weather Follow-Up Product (LUOVA) (Webcast, 36 minutes), 2017
Summer thunderstorm Kiira left a significant trace in Finland in August of 2017. With big forest damages because of strong wind gusts, big number of interventions in southern Finland this case is suitable for analysis and through that presenting the Finnish severe weather follow-up product LUOVA. Kaisa Solin from Finnish Met Service explains LUOVA more in detail in the video.
Warnings and Interpretations (Webcast, 17 minutes), 2017
Making reliable severe weather forecasts is always a great challenge. Communicating them towards the public and special end users is sometimes greater, even if the forecast is good. Tamás Alaga says that the Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) plans to develop and simplify its two-level warning system to make it more understandable. The problem is knowing when to stop with these simplifications. Tamás also explains how does the service handle probabilistic forecasts and delivering such forecasts to public and consumers.
Damaging convection in Hungary (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2011
Zoltan Polyanszky from the Hungarian Meteorological Institute, presents some of the typical convective scenarios with the focus on the usage of the background NWP fields and convective parameters. The role of the operational work of the forecaster who is responsible for issuing warnings is highlighted and concluding a reflection is discussed on what has been learned from the situations over the recent years.
Weather Alarm DWD (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Presentation developed by Guido Wolz, Rolf Ullrich, Bernhard Reichert and Wilfried Jacobs on the warning system at Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). The issue of weather warnings by DWD is a task according to law. Especially if weather situations can cause danger for persons and material.
The warning management is split in 3 parts: Early warning in which information as possibility (very likely, likely possible) of significant weather situations on a national scale (250-700 km) from 2 days to one week. Pre-warnings in which severe weather situations on a regional scale (50-250 km) from 1 to 2 days is expected. Finally, rural district warnings where concrete warnings are issued for one or more rural district with a preliminary lead time; if necessary with differentiation of height levels.
Weather Alarm Austria (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Instead of fixed warning thresholds, ZAMG has introduced the principle of annualities for their warning parameters. This decision was also chosen because most European NMSs also do it like this way. A yellow warning means that a situation exists only 17 times per year, which is an event which should be cautiously observed, but for which experience exists; an orange warning describes a situation which is only 3 times per year observed, therefore increased alert is necessary; a red warning is an event which appears only 1 to 3 times per years and is therefore an extreme event.
Weather Warnings in Finland (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Finnish warnings are issued on 24/7 routines via radio, television and www. Warnings are provided for general public, authorities and commercial clients. Warnings are issued for the next 24 hours in advance, but in future outlooks for some days in advance will be issued in near future. In weather situations where it is estimated that weather will be hazardous an extra forecaster monitors the situation and makes situation awareness reports for authorities. Also authority bulletins for general public are possible in severe weather situations.
Heavy rain warnings in Finland (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Rainfall warnings have not been issued in Finland until 2009. In the earlier years, heavy rain forecasting was considered to be a too challenging task. However, growing demand for warnings together with some advancements in forecasts have changed this. Nowadays FMI provides warnings for the general public, authorities and commercial clients. In this presentation FMI's heavy rain warnings are presented and discussed.
Weather Alarm 2.0 (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
KNMI takes great interest in collaborative decision making within the process towards issuing severe weather warnings. Collaborative decision making will equalize individual peak reactions by forecasters, it will also decrease the stress often felt by shift meteorologists in the onset phase towards a severe weather event. For this reason, KNMI has implemented several consulting procedures within its new warning system.
During the first part of this presentation Frank Kroonenberg will tell you about setting objective warning threshold, the warning colour assignment system and will give more details on the decision making process that leads to a warning for extreme weather or even a weather alarm the highest state of warnings in the Netherlands.
Regional weather alarm (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Rob Groenland will look into more detail in the July 14th case of 2010. He will describe the meteorological part on the synoptic- and mesoscale. Furthermore, he pays attention to the decision making process that finally lead to the issuing of a regional weather alarm for parts of the Netherlands that evening. Not only beforehand it is important the follow the procedures carefully but also in the aftermath it is essential to collect all the feedback and communication that took place between the expert- and weatheralarmteam but also from customers, end users and general public. Finally, he shows you the results of an extensive KNMI damage survey that took place in the area of the most severe damage.
Meteoalarm (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Presentation by Michael Staudinger talks about the EMMA project and the meteoalarm website that integrates all important severe weather information originating from the official National Public Weather Services across a large number of European countries. The warning information is presented consistently to ensure coherent interpretation as widely as possible throughout Europe.
Weather Warnings in Croatia (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2010
Presentation by Tanja Renko (DHMZ) who describes the warning system that was active in Croatia before joining the Meteoalarm. Then the decision process in giving a warning for Meteoalarm and the local authorities will be described using an example of a real warning case.
Ship routing - much more than just hard weather avoidance (Webcast, 25 minutes), 2018
In a world where vessels grow larger and larger and the fuel prices are steadily increasing, finding ways to minimizing the fuel consumption is of the outermost importance for the shipping industry. By optimizing the routes with respect to meteorological and oceanographic parameters, as well as the parameters set by individual vessels characteristics, we can significantly reduce the fuel consumption. This is most beneficial not only for our clients who save money, but also for the environment. As different kinds of vessels have very different characteristics, the job requires an extensive knowledge of both the ships and the shipping industry, as well as in meteorology and oceanography.
Ship Routing (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2013
Thomas Bruns gives a presentation on the history of ship routing and its improvements in the last 20 years, further on ocean waves and its related hazards. He gives an introduction to the classical methods of navigation. Route optimization is closely related to the ship performance; time optimization will not work without the knowledge of detailed ship properties. Finally, the two competing ways of navigating ships across the ocean, namely onboard and shore-based routing, will be discussed.
WWW-Briefing - Europe (Webcast, 55 minutes), 2013
Vesa Nietosvaara has worked as an operational weather forecaster for twenty years in 1988-2008. Since 1998 Vesa has been working within several training projects and created learning resources for operational meteorologists. Particularly, he is interested in satellite image interpretation and conceptual models for weather diagnosis. Most of his career Vesa has done at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, but since 2012 he works as a Training Officer at EUMETSAT. He assists the EUMeTrain monthly weather briefing team and regularly participates or lead the European online weather briefings (ePort weather briefings).
Larisa (Lara) Nikitina has been working as aviation weather forecaster in Rostov aviation center (Rostov-on-Don, south Russia) since 1985 after training as a weather forecaster in Russian State Hydrometeorological University (RSHU). And since 2010 she became the weather forecaster for Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Her special interests are the satellite meteorology applications for nowcasting and distance learning.
WWW-Briefing - Azores (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2013
Diamantino Henriques, received his degree in Atmospheric Physics at the University of Aveiro (1986) and his MS in Meteorology from the University of Lisboa (1996). From 1987 to 2003 he worked in Lisbon as meteorologist on atmospheric ozone and UV radiation issues. He has represented Portugal on several international meetings related with atmospheric composition and has participated in several projects and programs related with atmospheric ozone (GAW), atmospheric pollutants transport (EMEP) and UV radiation (EDUCE). In 2003 he moves to the Azores and worked at Ponta Delgada Airport as a senior meteorologist and forecaster. Later in 2008 he was nominated Head of the Regional Delegation of the Portuguese Institute of Meteorology (IM) in the Azores. Currently, he is the Head of the Azores Regional Delegation of the Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (IPMA, former IM) that includes the weather forecast service for the Azores.
WWW-Briefing - Australia (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2013
Bodo Zeschke received his BS in Physics at the University of New South Wales and MS in Meteorology at Monash University (2001). From 2001 to 2009 he worked as a forecaster at the Darwin Regional Forecasting Centre. During this time Bodo developed an interest in fog and low cloud nowcasting and forecasting for northern Australian regions. Since 2009 he has been engaged as a Lecturer to Australian and International postgraduate students studying for the Diploma of Meteorology at the Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre. Bodo has lectured in Tropical Meteorology, Satellite Meteorology and Weather Discussion training. Duties also include presenting lectures on related topics at World Meteorology Organisation courses and at the Bureau's annual Advanced Forecaster Workshop. He is the point of contact for the Australian VLab Centre of Excellence. Present topic of interest includes the integration of the satellite multichannel RGB products generated from MODIS imagery into Bureau forecast and training resources. This in preparation for the effective use of RGB products generated by the future Himawari 8 satellite.
WWW-Briefing - Oman (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2013
Mahmood Al-Khayari graduated at Saint Louis University (Missouri State), USA, with BS in meteorology in 2003. He is also holding MS in an engineering field from Sultan Qaboos University. Mahmood Al-Khayari works at Oman Met Service since Feb 2004 until now as meteorologist specialized in forecasting. He has done different kinds of forecasting: General, Aviation and Marine. Also he worked as a lecturer during this period in many courses such as: Met Technician course, aviation courses for Royal Force courses, marine courses for Oman Royal Navy, and many others. Mahmood Al-Khayari was recently selected to take care of the chief's duties of Remote sensing and research section.
WWW-Briefing - Korea (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2013
Ok Hee received her BSc in Astronomy at the Chungbuk National University at Chungchungbukdo the province of South Korea (1992), and MSc in Meteorology from the Seoul National University in Seoul South Korea (2004). She is preparing for the PhD. Her areas of interest include severe weather, lake-effect snow, Asian dust, fog and applications of satellite imagery to weather forecasting, particularly on the mesoscale. She worked at weather forecasting division as assistant for weather forecaster for 3 years from 1992 and satellite image analyst 3 years from 1996. She has been a research associate at NMSC (National Meteorological Satellite Center) KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) since 2006. She is currently working as a meteorological satellite image trainer and analyzer of COMS (Communication Ocean Meteorological Satellite) image for KMA's weather forecaster in NMSC. Presently, she is trying to develop Conceptual Models which are applicated in East Asia after training SATREP in ZAMG.
WWW-Briefing - South-Africa (Webcast, 50 minutes), 2013
Lee-Ann Simpson is currently working as a meteorological trainer in the Regional Training Center (RTC) in Pretoria. She worked as an operational forecaster from 2003-2008, after which she started in the training department. She presently lectures to Post graduate forecasting students, focusing on specialized weather forecasting and satellite meteorology. Through the University of Pretoria, she lectures satellite meteorology and Tropical meteorology to honours students. Her interests lie in short term forecasting, severe weather and all satellite based interpretation of weather phenomena. She has a BSc (Hon) in Meteorology from the University of Pretoria and she is currently completing her MSc through the same institution.
Jannie Stander has worked as an operational weather forecaster from 1998 to 2005. Since 2006 Jannie has been working in the Regional Training Centre at Pretoria providing marine (2006-2008) and aviation forecaster training (2008-current). His main interests are aviation meteorology, synoptic meteorology and satellite interpretation and he is involved with several international working groups within these disciplines. He holds a BSc Hons degree in Meteorology at the University of Pretoria and is currently completing his MSc at the same University.
Meteorology onboard the ship Polarstern (Webcast, 39 minutes), 2012
Peter Schmitt focuses on the use of satellite data for analysing meteorological situations and brings them in connection to the position of the ship Polarstern and the currently reported weather situation at its position. Gert König-Langlo as second speaker gives a more technical description of the facilities onboard Polarstern. He talks about the capabilities of the ship and the purposes for which it was built. The ship is equipped with many special instruments for synoptic and climatologic analysis of the atmosphere. The data deliver an important contribution to weather forecast models and climatologic surveys in the data sparse areas of the oceans. He finishes his presentation with a description of the German research station Neumayer III in the Antarctic and comes to talk about temperature series measured at the station for more than 30 years.
The German Research Vessel Polarstern (Webcast, 30 minutes), 2012
In the second presentation in the frame of the Polarstern project, the presenter refers on the activities performed by the Marine-Meteorological Service (Seewetteramt) in Hamburg. He gives insight into the different products they deliver like wave height and wind forecasts. Exact forecasts are crucial for the time optimization of ship routes. The second part of the presentation is devoted the vessel Polarstern on which the presenter also had the occasion to work. He refers on the current track of the ship, the work of the scientists onboard and talks about the challenges of such a journey. Finally, he comes to speak about the German research station in Antarctica (Neumayer III) which also serves as basis for forecasters from DWD.