Computer models help forecast severe weather
Standard weather radars, commonly used throughout Europe, are unable to differentiate between rain, hail, and melting particles. Additionally, they cannot distinguish between precipitation and the echoes caused by non-precipitation components (such as buildings, hills or anaprop - a phenomenon which can occur when a temperature inversion exists). In this project, data has been used from both polarisation and Doppler radars (measures speeds, for example an incoming rain cloud). Investigations using the radar data and computational modelling have been carried out in the Po Valley, Italy, to detect anaprop events. Further work has also interpreted the echoes of two large storm events in the Po Valley that has significantly increased the understanding of storm dynamics. Analyses of the data from the research radars have highlighted various measurement problems and the relative merits of different polarisation schemes. Advances have been made in the three dimensional visualisation of storms and the effects for hydrological modelling errors in radar data on rainfall.
