Volker Wulfmeyer
Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim,
Stuttgart, Germany
The Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS)
is an international field effort addressing one of the most important
challenges in atmospheric sciences: Understanding the process chain
leading to the development and organization of precipitation in
low-mountain regions and improvement of the predictive skill of
quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF).
COPS was endorsed as Research and Development Project (RDP) of the
World Weather Research Program (WWRP) and coordinated with a variety
of other research activities such as the WWRP Forecast Demonstration
Project (FDP) D-PHASE and the first summertime THORPEX European
Regional Campaign (ETReC07).
The field phase was performed in southwestern Germany / eastern France
during June – August 2007. A unique combination of sensors was set up
and successfully operated. Particular highlights were the operation of
2 Doppler-on-Wheels in synergy with a variety of passive and active
remote sensing systems, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM)
program Mobile Facility (AMF), 9 airborne platforms employing active
remote sensing systems such as Doppler and water-vapor lidar, and the
performance of the Meteosat Second Generation Rapid Scan Service.
It is demonstrated that the COPS data set provides a treasure chest
for atmospheric sciences, which can be characterized by four features:
1. Area-wide and synergetic observations of networks and supersites.
2. High-resolution, 4-dimensional data set provided by ground-based
scanning and airborne instrumentation.
3. High-end data set for data assimilation studies.
4. Coordination with D-PHASE ensemble forecasts for advanced process
and predictability studies.
First results of process and model evaluation studies as well as of
data assimilation studies will be presented and discussed.
Tuesday January 6, 2009, 9:30 AM
Refreshments 9:15 AM
NCAR-Foothills Laboratory
3450 Mitchell Lane
Bldg 2 Auditorium (Rm1022)
For more information, contact Petter Weibring at ext. 2052, weibring@ucar.edu.
Fri, Dec 26, 2008 to Tue, Jan 6, 2009
