HYDROMETEOROLOGY

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Past Projects

QPESUMS

The Quantitative Precipitation Estimation and Segregation Using Multiple Sensors (QPESUMS) Project was the predecessor to NMQ.  The goal of Project QPESUMS was to research, develop, and deploy multisensor precipitation algorithms that are adaptable to different types of weather for flash flood, river flood, agricultural, and water resources management applications worldwide. Originally prototyped for use in the mountainous terrain of the southwest US, QPESUMS uses a unique blend of WSR-88D radar data, TDWR radar data, private sector C-band radar data, satellite imagery, lightning strikes, rain gauge data, surface and upper air observations, and numerical model output to estimate precipitation types and rates on a 1x1 km grid, every 5 minutes.  QPESUMS algorithms included:

QPESUMS was deployed in Arizona, Oklahoma/Texas, North and South Carolina, and Taiwan.

AMBER (2001)

The AMBER (Areal Mean Basin Estimated Rainfall) algorithm uses WSR-88D radar data to monitor the amount of precipitation that falls into a watershed or basin and alerts the forecaster to a potential flash flood situation. AMBER was implemented into the NWS's AWIPS (Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System) in 2001. Automated and streamlined methods were developed to delineate the basins to be used by each NWSFO in the U.S..

I-FLOW

The Inland Flooding Observation and Warning (I-FLOW) Project worked with North Carolina State University (NCSU) and was focused on the Tar-Pamlico River Basin in North Carolina.  I-FLOW was a precursor to CI-FLOW.

NAME (2004)

The North American Monsoon Experiment was a joint U.S. - Mexican program focused on improving monsoon season precipitation forecasts over the U.S. and Mexico. A high point of the 8-year project was the NAME 2004 Field Campaign. Scientists had an unprecedented opportunity to collect extensive atmospheric, oceanic, and land-surface observations over northwest Mexico, the southwest U.S. and adjacent oceanic areas-the core region of the North American monsoon. The researchers collected extensive atmospheric oceanic and land-surface observations with a wide range of instruments in the core region of North American monsoons-northwest Mexico, the southwest U.S. and adjacent oceanic areas. The data will be used to improve global weather and climate models by better representing rainfall processes.

Two of the four main projects within NAME involved the expertise of NSSL researcher Mike Douglas. Mike helped coordinate flights of NOAA's P-3 over the Gulf of California to look at the seasonal low-level jet, and coordinated the second project, which studied, through ship measurements, how the monsoon is influenced by the transport of warm water into the Gulf of California. Douglas also lead a team that distributed about 300 rain gauges and set up pilot balloon observing sites at strategic locations throughout Mexico. Douglas is fluent in Spanish and has spent years obtaining and installing affordable weather observing equipment for Central and South America. He then trains local people to operate the systems.

PACJET (2001)

The mission of the Pacific Land-falling JETs Experiment (PACJET) was to improve short-term forecasts and warnings of floods, damaging winds and other severe weather spawned by storms originating over the data-sparse Pacific Ocean.  The experiment was based out of Monterey, CA, and conducted during the winter of 2001.  NSSL provided support to PACJET by participating in NOAA P-3 aircraft missions.

Sea Grant (2001)

NSSL brought its advanced flood warning and monitoring technologies to the coastal Carolinas as part of a demonstration project sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program, the North and South Carolina Sea Grant Programs, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Wilmington, N.C., and NSSL. The goal of this collaboration was to enable NWS forecasters and emergency managers to improve flood and flash flood warnings and forecasts along river basins located at coastal and inner coastal areas.  At the focus of the collaboration was the software suite and display, QPESUMS.

CALJET (1998)

The California Land-falling JETs Experiment (CALJET) was a project to study the low-level jet associated with frontal boundaries of Pacific storm systems that can cause extreme coastal rains.  NSSL scientists provided scientific guidance as the NOAA P-3 aircraft took measurements of these systems during the winter of 1998, and the data was ingested into the latest model runs. The real-time information being provided by instrumentation onboard the aircraft was extremely valuable to the NWS meteorologists on the west coast.

SWAMP

The 1993 SWAMP project marked the first cooperative venture between NSSL and private industry, the Salt River Project. Since then it has evolved into a series of meteorological field studies and experimental forecasting exercises focused on the operational needs of the SRP. SWAMP has two objectives. First, NSSL and the Salt River Project will continue their collaboration to use and evaluate WSR-88D products in power dispatch, transmission operations and water diversion operations at SRP. Second, NSSL and the National Weather Service will continue to evaluate the utility of NSSL-developed experimental radar algorithms in the desert environment of Phoenix. The project has three ongoing major scientific study targets: central Arizona thunderstorm environments, monsoon structures and moisture fluxes, and Mexican convective systems.

Past International Collaborations

PANTHERE

CIMMS scientist J.J. Gourley spent a year in France to help Meteo-France evaluate the improvements to quantitative precipitation estimation and hydrometeor particle identification afforded by a C-band dual-polarization radar.  A project called PANTHERE (Programme ARAMIS Nouvelle Technologie Hydromet Extension et REnouvellement - translated to "new program for the extension and renewal of new hydrometeorological technology") aimed to extend and upgrade the French weather radar network.  In exchange for NSSL's expertise, NSSL's radar group used the information from France in their current project to determine the quality of polarization diverse measurements at C-band through a working relationship with the private sector and other countries.  (NSSL Briefings Spring 2005).

Results included the correction of biases due to attenuation, near-radome interference, and calibration.  A fuzzy logic algorithm was put to use to identify and remove echoes from non-precipitation targets, and it was shown that polarimetric signatures do exist to discriminate rain, hail, snow, graupel, ice, etc.  The team also developed a polarimetric method for correcting attenuation at C-band, and worked with calibration of absolute reflectivity at C-band using redundancy of the polarization parameters in rain.

Taiwan's Hydrometeorological Support System (2002–2005)

NSSL and NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory (now ESRL) collaborated with the Central Weather Bureau and Water Resources Agency of Taiwan to develop a Hydrometeorological Decision Support System (HDSS) for Taiwan.  The two agencies were working to improve the country's capabilities to issue flash flood and flood warnings and improve river and reservoir water management.  NSSL was able to help the Taiwanese agencies establish the infrastructure for real-time radar, rain gage, model and sounding ingest, complete basic infrastructure and configuration of the HDSS for Taiwan, initial deployment of the HDSS with a Web-based product display system, and generate a suite of radar analysis and quantitative precipitation estimation products in real-time.

Western Mediterranean Flash Floods (1995-1996)

NSSL scientist (now retired) Chuck Doswell spent five months at the University of the Balearic Islands studying heavy rain events in the Mediterranean from late 1995-early 1996.  A goal of this collaboration was to test a mesoscale numerical model as a potential operational tool in support of heavy precipitation forecasts.