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All aspects of our lives are influenced by the weather and especially severe weather events - such considerations tend to become more pertinent as such weather events may become more frequent with global warming. It is evident that better weather forecasts for the next few hours, days or even weeks have a high economic value for our developed and densely populated world. Ground and air traffic management benefits, as does the construction industry, tourism, agriculture and big outdoor events such as the Olympic games. Weather fore casting nowadays relies on numerical weather prediction models. The reliability and accuracy of forecasts however depends not only on the quality and resolution of these models, but to a high degree on the density and quality of input data from observations. Weather radar measurements complement current data such as ground observations and soundings at smaller scales and satellite observations on larger scales. Targeted weather radar measurements additionally give detailed insight into the processes governing the developments of, for example, frontal systems and thunderstorms, which is needed for improving the model quality by comparing the observations with model forecasts. Weather radar observations on their own can be used directly for short-term forecasting, called nowcasting, just by observ ing the developments of weather systems some 100 km around and extrapolating the observations with knowledge of their typical behaviour. Finally, with reliable quantitative measurements of area precipitation by radar, flood forecasts will be improved.
List of contents
1 The State of Weather Radar Operations, Networks and Products.- 2 Operational Measurement of Precipitation in Mountainous Terrain.- 3 Operational Measurement of Precipitation in Cold Climates.- 4 Using Radar in Hydrometeorology.- 5 Improved Precipitation Rates and Data Quality by Using Polarimetric Measurements.- 6 Understanding Severe Weather Systems by Advanced Weather Radar Observations.- 7 Precipitation Measurements from Space.- 8 Radar Sensor Synergy for Cloud Studies; Case Study of Water Clouds.- 9 Assimilation of Radar Data in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models.- Color Plates.
Summary
With their images practically ubiquitious in the daily media, weather radar systems provide data not only for understanding weather systems and improving forecasts (especially critical for severe weather), but also for hydrological applications, flood warnings and climate research in which ground verification is needed for global precipitation measurements by satellites. This book offers an accessible overview of advanced methods, applications and modern research from the European perspective. An extensive introductory chapter summarizes the principles of weather radars and discusses the potential of modern radar systems, including Doppler and polarisation techniques, data processing, and error-correction methods. Addressing both specialist researchers and nonspecialists from related areas, Weather Radar will also be useful for graduate students planning to specialize in this field
Additional text
From the reviews:
"Meischner’s book successfully merges meteorological and technological aspects of weather radar into a meaningful discourse of theory and application. Weather Radar is an assortment of important radar-related topics … . This is a book for radar engineers and weather radar users … interested in concepts of multispectral analysis or polarization or sensor combinations or severe weather systems … . Sections of the book provide excellent discussions of flood forecasting and precipitation measurements in mountainous terrain or in cold climates." (Randy Steadham, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, November, 2005)
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From the reviews:
"Meischner's book successfully merges meteorological and technological aspects of weather radar into a meaningful discourse of theory and application. Weather Radar is an assortment of important radar-related topics ... . This is a book for radar engineers and weather radar users ... interested in concepts of multispectral analysis or polarization or sensor combinations or severe weather systems ... . Sections of the book provide excellent discussions of flood forecasting and precipitation measurements in mountainous terrain or in cold climates." (Randy Steadham, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, November, 2005)
