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Guidelines for Nowcasting Techniques
The purpose of the WMO nowcasting guidelines presented here is to help National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) by providing them with information and knowledge on how to implement a nowcasting system with the resources available to them and an understanding of the current state of science and technology.
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Available online: Full text
Published by: WMO ; 2017
The purpose of the WMO nowcasting guidelines presented here is to help National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) by providing them with information and knowledge on how to implement a nowcasting system with the resources available to them and an understanding of the current state of science and technology.
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1198
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)ISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11198-2
Tags: Weather forecasting ; Radar meteorology ; Numerical weather prediction ; Short-range forecast ; Radiosonde ; Guidelines ; NWP Skills and Knowledge for Operational Meteorologists ; PWS - Personnel Engaged in Operational Forecasting ; Radar Skills and Knowledge for Operational Meteorologists ; Service Delivery Division (SDD) ; Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme (IMOP) ; Technical Publications
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Handbook on Use of Radio Spectrum for Meteorology : Weather, Water and Climate Monitoring and Prediction
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - WMO, 2017 (WMO-No. 1197)The Handbook provides comprehensive technical and operational information on current observation applications and systems and on the use of radio frequencies by meteorological systems, including meteorological satellites, radiosondes, weather radars, wind profiler radars and spaceborne remote sensing instruments. It is intended for the meteorological (i.e. weather, water and climate) and radiocommunication communities, including governmental institutions, industry as well as the general public.
Handbook on Use of Radio Spectrum for Meteorology: Weather, Water and Climate Monitoring and Prediction
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Available online: Full text
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; International Telecommunication Union
Published by: WMO ; 2017The Handbook provides comprehensive technical and operational information on current observation applications and systems and on the use of radio frequencies by meteorological systems, including meteorological satellites, radiosondes, weather radars, wind profiler radars and spaceborne remote sensing instruments. It is intended for the meteorological (i.e. weather, water and climate) and radiocommunication communities, including governmental institutions, industry as well as the general public.
Collection(s) and Series: WMO- No. 1197
Language(s): English; Other Languages: Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic
Format: Digital (Free)ISBN (or other code): 978-92-63-11197-5
Tags: Weather forecasting ; Radar meteorology ; Observations ; Satellite ; Radiosonde ; WMO Space Programme (SAT) ; Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme (IMOP) ; Radar Skills and Knowledge for Operational Meteorologists ; Satellite Skills and Knowledge for Operational Meteorologists ; Technical Publications
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Nowcasting for Central Europe
High-impact weather has always posed challenges for crisis management and risk prevention. Nowcasting provides very short range weather forecasts (0–6 hours) and warnings in a timely manner and in high spatial detail. It can help end users such as civil protection authorities, hydrologists and road safety services in their time-critical applications to respond, prepare and take actions for high-impact weather.1234
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in Bulletin > Vol. 65(1) (2016) . - p.58-61High-impact weather has always posed challenges for crisis management and risk prevention. Nowcasting provides very short range weather forecasts (0–6 hours) and warnings in a timely manner and in high spatial detail. It can help end users such as civil protection authorities, hydrologists and road safety services in their time-critical applications to respond, prepare and take actions for high-impact weather.1234
Language(s): English; Other Languages: French, Russian, Spanish
Format: Digital (Free), Hard copy[article]No review, please log in to add yours !
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L’avenir de l’entreprise météorologique
Alors que les incidences du temps et du climat ne cessent de s’aggraver, il importe de chercher des stratégies qui permettront de renforcer les outils scientifi ques et technologiques qui nous ont permis, au cours des quatre dernières décennies, d’améliorer sensiblement nos aptitudes en matière de prévisions et de services météorologiques. Il n’y a pas si longtemps – à l’époque où la génération du baby-boom faisait son entrée sur le marché du travail – l’échéance des prévisions exactes et fi ables du temps ne dépassait pas 24 heures. Aujourd’hui, il est normal de pouvoir compter sur la diff us ...
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in Bulletin > Vol. 64(1) (2015) . - p.14-15Alors que les incidences du temps et du climat ne cessent de s’aggraver, il importe de chercher des stratégies qui permettront de renforcer les outils scientifi ques et technologiques qui nous ont permis, au cours des quatre dernières décennies, d’améliorer sensiblement nos aptitudes en matière de prévisions et de services météorologiques. Il n’y a pas si longtemps – à l’époque où la génération du baby-boom faisait son entrée sur le marché du travail – l’échéance des prévisions exactes et fi ables du temps ne dépassait pas 24 heures. Aujourd’hui, il est normal de pouvoir compter sur la diff usion, 5 à 7 jours à l’avance, de prévisions de haute qualité. Ces progrès ont permis de sauver des vies et de réduire les dommages matériels et les incidences économiques. Il faudra cependant en faire beaucoup plus pour réaliser tout le potentiel des produits et services de l’entreprise météorologique et permettre à la société d’en tirer tous les avantages possibles.123
Language(s): French; Other Languages: English, Russian, Spanish
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La météo: quel avenir?
Les nouvelles sources d’observations de l’atmosphère, les supercalculateurs plus puissants et les progrès de la science ont contribué ensemble à révolutionner la prévision du temps au cours de la dernière partie du XXe siècle. À l’échelle mondiale, nous sommes désormais capables de faire cinq jours à l’avance des prévisions aussi précises que celles qui étaient produites trois jours à l’avance il y a 20 ans. Les sociétés peuvent donc aujourd’hui recevoir bien plus tôt qu’avant des alertes aux aléas météorologiques qui leurs permettent de se préparer et de limiter ainsi les pertes humaines et m ...
[article]
in Bulletin > Vol. 64(1) (2015) . - p.11-13Les nouvelles sources d’observations de l’atmosphère, les supercalculateurs plus puissants et les progrès de la science ont contribué ensemble à révolutionner la prévision du temps au cours de la dernière partie du XXe siècle. À l’échelle mondiale, nous sommes désormais capables de faire cinq jours à l’avance des prévisions aussi précises que celles qui étaient produites trois jours à l’avance il y a 20 ans. Les sociétés peuvent donc aujourd’hui recevoir bien plus tôt qu’avant des alertes aux aléas météorologiques qui leurs permettent de se préparer et de limiter ainsi les pertes humaines et matérielles. On attend beaucoup des progrès qui seront encore réalisés dans ce domaine au cours des années à venir.12
Language(s): French; Other Languages: English, Russian, Spanish
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WIGOS Technical Report, 2016-01. AMDAR Benefits to the Air Transport Industry
This report describes and documents the benefits that the Air Transport Industry (ATI) gains from increased forecast accuracy achieved through the daily collection of atmospheric data gathered by approximately 4,000 inflight commercial aircraft. The report also outlines the Aircraft Meteorological DAta Relay (AMDAR) observing system, the forecast process and describes the importance that AMDAR data plays in numerical weather prediction (NWP).
Measuring the benefits to the ATI requires first to describe and to quantify the improved weather forecast accuracies due solely to the assimilat ...
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Using NWP Lightning Products in Forecasting
This lesson introduces two numerical weather prediction (NWP) lightning hazard products that forecasters can use during a convective meteorological watch and to assess lightning risk at Day 2 and beyond. The first product is the Flash Rate Density, a derived, deterministic lightning product implemented in some NCEP high-resolution NWP models. The second product, the SPC Calibrated Thunderstorm Probability, combines forecasts of measurable precipitation and favorable lightning environments determined from the Cloud Physics Thunder Parameter. Information about these products is presented in the ...
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SatFC-G: Basic Principles of Radiation
This lesson is an abbreviated review of the scientific basis for using visible and infrared satellite imagery. The concepts and capabilities presented are common to most geostationary (GEO) and low-Earth orbiting (LEO) meteorological satellites. Basic remote sensing and radiative theory are reviewed using conceptual models to help organize scientific concepts. Some imagery is also included to illustrate concepts and relate them to sensor observations. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course. More in-depth information on radiation and radiative transfer can be found ...
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SatFC-G: Near-IR Bands
This lesson introduces you to three of the four near-infrared imager bands (at 1.37, 1.6, and 2.2 micrometers) on the GOES R-U ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager), focusing on their spectral characteristics and how they affect what each band observes. For information on the 0.86 micrometer near-IR "veggie" band which is not included here, refer to the Visible and Near-IR Bands lesson. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course.
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Weather Forecast Uncertainty Information for Everyday Users - Presentation at 2015 Workshop on Communicating Uncertainty to Users of Weather Forecasts
Although previous research suggests that we are not very good at reasoning with uncertainty, the research described in this talk is far more encouraging. Unlike earlier work that compares peoples' decisions to a rational standard, these experiments compared decisions made by people with uncertainty information to decisions made by people without uncertainty information. The results suggest that including specific numeric uncertainty estimates in weather forecasts leads to better decisions. This talk was part of Meteorological Service of Canada's 2015 Workshop on Communicating Uncertainty to Us ...
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Short-Range Ensemble Forecast Upgrade
The Short-Range Ensemble Forecast (SREF) system underwent a major upgrade in Fall 2015. The intended result of the upgrade was to improve the SREF ensemble spread and probabilistic skill, and to reduce a cool, wet bias in surface and near-surface temperatures and moisture. This 20-minute lesson addresses the changes to improve the SREF, including the increase in ensemble size, the increase in initial condition and model physics diversity, and drier land surface parameters to lessen the cool, wet bias. Each is introduced by comparing the old and new SREF forecasts for a potential winter storm f ...
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SatFC-G: GOES-R Impacts on Satellite Data Assimilation
This five minute lesson presents a brief overview of how GOES-R observations are expected to support and potentially enhance NWP for various analysis and forecast applications. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course.
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JPSS River Ice and Flood Products
This lesson introduces hydrologists, meteorologists, and the education community to two new JPSS (Joint Polar Satellite System) satellite capabilities for monitoring river ice and flooding. It begins by describing the need for information on river ice and flooding, the capabilities of the Suomi NPP and future JPSS VIIRS imagers to provide products for monitoring river conditions, and the new river ice and flood products. This is followed by several cases, notably the May 2013 Galena, AK flood event, that demonstrate the use and value of the products in monitoring river ice and related flooding ...
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Forecasting Sensible Weather from Water Vapour Imagery
Forecaster nowcasting at the synoptic scale is rapidly being replaced by the numerical weather prediction models. However, there are plenty of opportunities for you as a forecaster to improve on those forecasts with simple comparisons of water vapour hand analyses and surface hand analyses. The goal of this lesson is to improve your skills in water vapour and surface analyses to evaluate the three-dimensionality of the atmosphere and thus forecast the sensible weather better. This is the capstone for the entire Satellite Interpretation distance learning course.
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Satellite Foundational Course for GOES-R: SatFC-G (SHyMet Full Course Access)
The Satellite Foundational Course for GOES-R (SatFC-G) is a series of nearly 40 lessons designed specifically for National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters and decision makers to prepare for the U.S.’ next-generation geostationary environmental satellites. The course is intended to help learners develop or improve their understanding of the capabilities, value, and anticipated benefits from the GOES-R suite of instruments. These instruments and imagery offer improved monitoring of meteorological, environmental, climatological, and space weather phenomena and related hazards. The course will a ...
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SatFC-G: Tropical to Extratropical Transition
This lesson uses water vapor satellite imagery from Himawari-8 to describe the typical extratropical transition of a tropical cyclone. The Himawari-8 imager previews comparable capabilities coming online with the GOES-R ABI imager. The lesson also provides a brief overview of subtropical cyclones and their transition to tropical cyclones. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course.
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SatFC-G: Impact of Satellite Observations on NWP
This lesson covers how satellite data inform numerical weather prediction models. From a basic overview of how satellite data is assimilated to how a new instrument's data might get into a model. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course. More in-depth discussions and a quiz on the impacts of satellite observations on NWP can be found in the COMET lesson, How Satellite Observations Impact NWP.
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HiresW HREF Upgrade
This 20-minute lesson presents upgraded versions of the two NWP models used as High Resolution Window (HiresW), the Weather Research and Forecasting-Advanced Research WRF (WRF-ARW) and the Non-Hydrostatic Multiscale Model on the B-grid (NMMB). Domains include the CONtinental US (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The CONUS runs of the NMMB and WRF-ARW became part of a new High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF) system in 2015, the first of its kind produced at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. To familiarize the operational forecaster with the HREF, products from ...
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SatFC-G: Introduction to the GLM
This lesson describes the need for real-time lightning information and the capabilities of the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), which will fly on the next-generation GOES-R satellites as the first operational lightning detector in geostationary orbit. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course. More in-depth discussions and a quiz on the lightning flash cycle and lightning applications can be found in the COMET lesson, GOES-R GLM: Introduction to the Geostationary Lightning Mapper.
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Verification Methods in the NWS National Blend of Global Models
This lesson introduces learners to the methods used in verifying the various weather element forecasts included in Version 1.0 of the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) National Blend of global Models (NBM). This Level 2 lesson is intended for forecasters and users of NWS forecast products; some prior knowledge of numerical weather prediction and statistics is useful. Learners will be introduced to the analysis of record used to verify the NBM. Learners will also explore single event, grid-to-observation, and grid-to-grid verification methods, as well as how to interpret the results using the ...
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Statistical Methods in the NWS National Blend of Global Models
This lesson introduces users to the statistics used in generating the various weather element forecasts included in Version 1.0 of the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) National Blend of global Models (NBM). This Level 3 lesson is intended for forecasters and users of NWS forecast products; some prior knowledge of numerical weather prediction and statistics is useful. Learners will be introduced to the analysis of record used to calibrate the NBM’s bias and error estimates. Learners will also explore the downscaling, bias correction, and weighting procedures applied to the model products, an ...
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Predicting Convective Cessation for Aviation Forecasters
This module introduces aviation forecasters to a conceptual framework for analyzing, diagnosing and predicting convective cessation and resulting conditions near airports. Users will first learn about five main environments with respect to convection, and three patterns in which these environments are commonly arranged. Next, users are immersed into an adjustable-time case simulator to practice applying the convective environment frameworks to their forecast process, while periodically amending TAFs and responding to warning, storm report and caller interruptions. Finally, a case summary ties ...
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SatFC-G: IR Bands, Excluding Water Vapor
This lesson introduces seven of the ten infrared imager bands on the GOES R-U ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager). It examines the spectral characteristics of each band to facilitate a better understanding of band selection and what each band observes, and to shed light on some of the many potential applications. This lesson is a part of the NWS Satellite Foundation GOES-R Course.
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The Science of Radio Occultation and the COSMIC Mission
The lesson provides an overview of radio occultation and its contributions to our understanding of Earth's atmosphere as demonstrated by the COSMIC mission launched in 2006. The lesson is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1 describes the science of radio occultation and how atmospheric profiles are obtained. Chapter 2 focuses on the benefits of radio occultation and COSMIC observations for numerous applications related to meteorology, climate, and space weather. Chapter 3 describes the COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7 mission and its expected improvements to further inform meteorology, climate, and iono ...
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Communicating Forecast Uncertainty
This scenario-based lesson introduces the topic of communicating forecast uncertainty to decision-makers, such as emergency managers, related industry professionals, the public, and other end-users. In a case that spans the lesson, learners begin by developing a forecast discussion using deterministic data, refine it with probabilistic ensemble data, and evaluate how well it conveys uncertainty information. Then they assume several end-user roles, assessing how well the forecast discussion addresses their needs. From there, important research findings on communicating uncertainty are discussed ...
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