Satellite skills and knowledge for operational meteorologist
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Vesa Nietosvaara and Larisa Nikitina give a weather briefing for the European region, Larisa focusses on the preparations for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.
Length: 55 min
Author: Vesa Nietosvaara, Larisa Nikitina
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.
Diamantino Henriques gives a weather briefing for the Azores and looks back to the heavy rain event on 13th and 14th March 2013.
Length: 30 min
Author: Diamantino Henriques
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.
Bodo Zeschke gives a comprehensive overview of the technical facilities available at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology followed by a weather briefing and a short lecture on shallow cold fronts.
Length: 50 min
Author: Bodo Zeschke
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.
Phil Chadwick introduces his home country Canada and talks about the challenges a forecasters has to face in this large coutry. He puts most emphasis on satellite images and water vapour patterns.
Length: 50 min
Author: Phil Chadwick
Trained at Queen's University as a nuclear physicist, "Phil the Forecaster" has been a professional meteorologist since 1976. Officially retired in 2011 Phil still continues to advance his research efforts with COMET and the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC). Satellite and radar meteorology are his forte. Much of this research has been published by COMET under the Satellite Palette banner. Phil has also completed original and extensive research on performance measurement. This large body of work resides in the Case Studies section of Northern Latitude Meteorology (NorLatMet/COMET). Aside from the above Phil has been painting en plein air forever - Philtheforecaster.blogspot.com - art and science are indeed similar endeavours. A sense of humour bundles all of this together and makes learning and teaching fun.
Cb Clusters consist of a cluster of thicker and larger cloud cells within the usual cold air cloudiness behind fronts. It differs from ECs by a looser structure and different cell sizes.
This chapter contains information about Cb and Mesoscale Convective System at small and mesoscale size. Additionally there exist another chapter (CONVECTIVE CLOUD FEATURES IN TYPICAL SYNOPTIC ENVIRONMENTS) which addresses larger scale features. Cbs and Mesoscale Convective Systems form in strong convective processes. The life time and intensity of a Cb and Mesoscale Convective System depend upon the vertical wind shear. Most important is the shear in the lowest layer reaching from the surface up to 2-3 km. Cells developing within strong vertical shear have long lifetime and produce severe weather.
Small bright cloud cells and cell complexes, accompanying convection and unstable processes.
Cluster of Cumulonimbi can be found in an unstable environment where dynamical forcing in the atmosphere plays a role as an additional triggering effect. Cumulonimbus cluster can occur in any unstable air mass: in a cold air mass behind a polar Cold Front, in the frontal zone of a polar front and in warm air of a thermal ridge. Cb Cluster in Warm Air, which are the subject of this investigation, are mesoscale cloud phenomena with an average diameter of 200 km. Over land they start to be generated when the surface temperature enhanced by insolation becomes sufficient to trigger convection. They dissolve during night, and this is one of the main characteristics to differentiate them from Mesoscale Convective System which can exist during the night. Cb Cluster are often embedded in cellular low cloudiness of other types.
A Cold Air Development describes the increase of a Comma to a synoptic scale cloud spiral having similarities with an Occlusion stage.
A Cold Air Development is represented by a cloud spiral at the rear side of a frontal system. As the name already indicatees it is bound to cold air advection. Cold Air Developments often result of enlargening comma systems. Like the comma system they are linked to a PVA maximum. The intensive moving PVA maxima is regarded as the reason for cyclogenesis taking place within the cold air mass.
A Baroclinic Boundary is accompanied by a stationary front-like cloud band situated at synoptic positions which are not typical for classical fronts.
Baroclinicity means that in the atmosphere surfaces of constant pressure intersect surfaces of constant temperature (or density), implying that on a surface of constant pressure there exists a temperature gradient. Consequently a horizontal stream on a pressure surface causes a change in temperature. In general the atmosphere is in a baroclinic state. But there are self contained areas with stronger baroclinicity like i.e. fronts. A Baroclinic Boundary has no significant propagation. The Baroclinic Boundary to the rear of a synoptic scale trough is the most frequent type and will therefore serve as an example.
A Back-Bent Occlusion is that part of an Occlusion cloud spiral which reforms into a Cold Front band with some cyclonic curvature with the approach of a cold air mass.
The concept Back Bent Occlusion refers to a part of a warm occluded front that changes its direction of motion and turns into a Cold Front. This back bending is due to remarkable cold air advection at the rear side. The bending back of an occluded front can be seen from the curvature of TFP field around the Occlusion.The surface pressure gradient is relatively weak near the centre of the low, and often elongated in the direction of the occluded front.
Arctic Fronts are accompanied by mostly low and some mid-level clouds.
Arctic Fronts form in the Arctic region, and move southwards in southerly flows. When they reach Northern Europe, they have usually travelled over an open sea, and convective cloudiness has developed. The appearance of an Arctic Cold Fronts is then, essentially, that of a shallow Cold Front. Arctic Cold Fronts are usually so far north that Meteosat images alone are inadequate to recognize them. The final check is best made using a loop of AVHRR images with the help of numerical model parameter fields.
Sheldon Kusselson talks about microwave sensors aboard operational polar orbiters.
Length: 30 min
Author: Sheldon Kusselson (former NOAA/NESDIS)
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.
Vincenzo Levizzani provides a brief overview of the basic physical principles underlying satellite precipitation estimation methods.
Length: 46 min
Author: Vincenzo Levizzani (CNR - ISAC)
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.