THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF WEATHER, CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

APRIL 2024

T E C H N O L O G Y I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WATCH THIS
SPACE
New forecasting developments
could help the world prepare for
the next big storm from outer space

GOING GREEN CAUSE AND EFFECT

The WMO shares its work How impact-based
on the development of forecasting is helping
more environmentally to minimize the socio-
sustainable observing economic costs of
systems and methods weather hazards
 Strapline

COVER STORY Contents

6 4 NEWS IN BRIEF 46 REPLACING RADIOSONDES
WATCH THIS SPACE MTI delves into the latest news and Why weather drones offer an ideal
developments from the met sector alternative to traditional radiosondes
Space weather could cause chaos
Helen Norman to fill the data gap in the lower layers
on Earth without further forecast of the atmosphere
developments. Meteorological Technology 14 SERVE AND PROTECT Meteomatics
International speaks to experts in the A look at NASA’s work on better
field to find out what is being done to prediction of space radiation, 50 FUTURE OF WEATHER RADAR
ensure we are better prepared which is one of the greatest threats Technology powering current radar
Jack Roper to an astronaut’s health and can networks is ready for a modern overhaul,
cause critical damage to space-based with solid-state power amplifiers emerging
instrumentation technologies as the future of radio-frequency power
Jack Roper generation in weather radar system design
Vaisala
20 GOING GREEN
The WMO shares its work on the 54 WATER RESOURCE CHALLENGES
development of more environmentally A new advanced water monitoring

14
sustainable observing systems and network in the Fergana Valley in
methods for the global meteorological Central Asia represents a leap forward
and hydrological sectors in sustainable water management
Keri Allan Geolux
26 CAUSE AND EFFECT 56 JOIN FORCES
The continued development of The AWS1600 global joint test program
impact-based forecasting is providing is providing accurate and valuable
the information needed to act before meteorological data for scientific
weather disasters put lives at risk research around the world
Paul Willis Zoglab
32 TEN YEARS OF TAHMO 58 MODERN RADAR SOFTWARE
This year the Trans-African Advanced software is making solid-state
Hydro-Meteorological Observatory radar more reliable, accurate and easy

20 celebrates a decade in operation.

How has the project progressed and
what will the next 10 years bring?
to deploy, while new AI applications
are enhancing numerical weather
prediction forecasts
Nick van de Giesen, co-founder, TAHMO Meteopress
36 TEAM WORK 62 THE CASE FOR HYDROGEN
The European Weather Cloud is using The use of hydrogen in weather balloons
cloud infrastructure to boost is gaining ground in the meteorological
collaboration in the weather and sector thanks to the development of
climate domain proton exchange membrane technology
EUMETSAT Nel Hydrogen
40 INDUSTRY FIRST 63 SHARING EARTH’S DATA
The development of a three-way- A look at the requirement for a central
coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave data hub for environmental information
model – the largest high-resolution to improve industry, save lives and
regional implementation available protect infrastructure
Baron Weather Synoptic Data

26 44 ACT LOCAL
A dual-polarization X-band radar
64 HAVE YOU MET…
Irfan Elahi, director of the high-performance
has helped researchers in Missouri computing division at the National Center
better monitor intense rainfall in for Atmospheric Research, talks to MTI
Boone County’s Hinkson Creek about the new Derecho supercomputer,
EWR Radar Systems which began operations last year
Helen Norman

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 1

 The Forecast
Editor Helen Norman

W
([email protected])
hen I was 12 years old, my In Serve and Protect on page 14, NASA Web editor Elizabeth Baker
teacher asked me to give a and the European Space Agency explain Production editor Alex Bradley
presentation on a person that how they are developing more advanced Sub editors Sarah Lee, Alasdair Morton,
I believed was a role model to forecasting systems for space weather to Mary Russell
the younger generation. Most ensure their astronauts, equipment and Art director Craig Marshall
of my classmates picked family members, instruments in orbit are kept safe. Designer Karin Rees
television presenters, footballers or singers. And it’s not just those in space who are
Production assistants
I, however, chose Neil Armstrong – the first at risk. According to a recent University of
Dylan Botting, Amy Moreland
person on the moon. Reading study, space weather could cause
Armstrong’s journey to the moon, and chaos on Earth without further forecast Publication manager Sam Figg
space in general, fascinated me back then developments. Geomagnetic storms could Divisional sales director, magazines
Rob Knight
and still does today. I found it hard to disrupt radio signals and navigation
comprehend how someone could fly to and systems and even cause blackouts. Head of data Lauren Floyd
walk on the moon and come back in one “Geomagnetic storms occur when Chairman Tony Robinson
piece. My presentation talked about how CMEs transfer energy to Earth’s magnetic Managing director Colette Tebbutt
achieving such a feat field, where charged Managing director, magazines
made Armstrong particles become Anthony James
one of the most trapped. Processes
successful men in are often coupled,
the world – not just
in the space
Space weather but an extremely
energetic CME
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exploration sector.
My love of space,
could cause chaos on driving a large SEP
[solar energized
ISSN 2042-7190 (print)
ISSN 2397-5946 (online)
its vastness and the
great unknown, Earth without further particles] event
and triggering
Published by
UKi Media & Events, a division
of UKIP Media & Events Ltd
grew after many
summer months
spent staring up at
forecast developments” geomagnetic storms
would probably
cause the most
Contact us at:
Meteorological Technology International
Parsonage House, Parsonage Square,
the skies from my severe disruption Dorking, RH4 1UP, UK
Tel.: +44 1306 743744
garden in an on Earth,” explains Email: [email protected]
extremely rural part of England, where low University of Reading postdoctoral Web: www.ukimediaevents.com
www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com
light pollution meant hundreds of stars research assistant, Dr Luke Barnard,
were visible in the night’s sky. in Watch this Space on page 6. The views expressed in the articles and technical
papers are those of the authors and are not
I’d dream about venturing up into space With better forecasting systems using necessarily endorsed by the publisher. While
myself, although the reality scared me, and the latest modeling and data assimilation every care has been taken during production, the
publisher does not accept any liability for errors
I was right to be scared. Aside from the processes, space weather and its impact on that may have occurred. Copyright ©2024
extreme danger astronauts put themselves Earth and astronauts can be minimized. Moving on? To amend your details, or to be removed from
in when traveling to and from space, they Despite these advances in technology, our circulation list, email [email protected].
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energized particle events, which occur I hope you enjoy this special space issue
Printed by
when coronal mass ejections (CMEs), of Meteorological Technology International Jamm Print & Production sro,
also known as solar flares, fire volleys of as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Prague, Czech Republic
accelerated particles outward through
the solar system. Helen Norman, editor THE INTER NATIO
NAL REVIE W
OF WEAT HER,
CLIMATE AND
HYDR OLOG
Y TECHN OLOG
IES AND SERVI
CES
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O L O G Y

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GOING GREEN
The WMO shares
& EVENTS

on the develo its work CAUSE AND EFFEC

How impact-base T
pment
more environment of
d
sustainable observally forecasting is
helping
systems and methoing to minimize the
ds socio-
economic costs
of
weather hazard
s

2 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

News in brief
Read the full articles at: www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com

ESA’s Arctic weather satellite passes environmental tests

E SA’s Arctic weather satellite has passed its
environmental test campaign, meaning that
the satellite has been declared fit for liftoff.
The new satellite, which is slated for launch in
June 2024, has been designed to improve weather
forecasts in the Arctic – a region that currently
lacks data for accurate short-term forecasts.
It is equipped with a 19-channel cross-track
scanning microwave radiometer, which benefits
from the heritage technology of the microwave
sounder developed for the MetOp Second
Generation satellites, and will provide high-
resolution humidity and temperature soundings
of the atmosphere in all weather conditions.
The satellite’s final tests were carried out at
industrial equipment supplier Industrieanlagen-
Betriebsgesellschaft (IABG) in Germany and
included positioning the satellite on a shaker to
simulate the vibrations it will have to endure
during liftoff, and enclosing it in a thermal
vacuum chamber where it was exposed to the
extreme swings in temperature that it will
experience as it orbits Earth.
https://tinyurl.com/mt348bzf

Scan the QR ESA’s Arctic weather

satellite passed its
code for the environmental test
full article campaign with flying colors

Water-level forecasts
are used by many
| EEA publishes first climate risk
assessment report
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its
throughout the Great first European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) report,
Lakes for commerce,
recreation and safety
which states that Europe is the fastest-warming continent
in the world, and that climate risks are threatening energy
and food security, ecosystems, infrastructure, water
resources, financial stability and people’s health. The EEA

| US government invests US$3.7m

in water-level forecast system
The US Department of Commerce and NOAA are investing
published EUCRA to help identify policy priorities for climate
change adaptation and for climate-sensitive sectors.
https://tinyurl.com/2w2fh5cf

US$3.72m to support research on Great Lakes water-level Europe is not prepared for
forecasts. The funds will be distributed by NOAA’s Great rapidly growing climate
Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) to risks, EUCRA finds

NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research

(CIGLR), hosted by the University of Michigan.
This project is designed to improve seasonal water-
level forecasts using technology like machine learning
to extend the forecasts from six months to one year.
https://tinyurl.com/2fad9z7h

4 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 News in brief

NOC’s specialist team of

| US Department of Homeland Security
to deploy 80 wildfire sensors in Hawaii
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and
engineers has extensive Technology Directorate (S&T) and US Fire Administration
experience in remotely (USFA) are deploying 80 wildfire sensors and 16 wind sensors
operating gliders in
across the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii will be the first location
challenging conditions
to receive the new Beta wildfire sensors developed by DHS
S&T and USFA in cooperation with N5 Sensors. A total of 200
Beta wildfire sensors will be deployed to high-risk areas
across the USA for operational testing and evaluation in
2024, including the 80 sensors across the Hawaiian Islands.
https://tinyurl.com/2wje2rft

National Oceanography Centre | Caltech creates bionic jellyfish

for deep ocean data collection
Caltech has researched how to augment live jellyfish with
electronics that can enhance their swimming and carry

to provide underwater glider measurement technology. The goal is to use the jellyfish
as robotic data-gatherers, sending them into the oceans to
collect information about temperature, salinity and oxygen

data for the UK Met Office levels. To test the swimming abilities of the augmented
jellyfish, the Dabiri Lab constructed a massive vertical

U
aquarium inside Caltech’s Guggenheim Laboratory. The
nderwater gliders, operated said, “Understanding the tests revealed that the jellyfish can swim up to 4.5 times
by engineers from the UK’s relationship between the faster than all-natural jellyfish while carrying a payload.
National Oceanography atmosphere and the ocean https://tinyurl.com/5dfm45km
Centre (NOC), are to navigate is key to improving
through the North Sea taking understanding of weather and
measurements such as salinity climate. This data has given
and temperature for the Met us greater insight into vital
Office in near real time. aspects that form the weather
The project, which will systems that affect us every day.”
operate for the next three years, Stephen Woodward,
aims to improve the collection engineering manager at
and distribution of data from the NOC, added, “Securing
the North Sea. The new a better understanding of
temperature and salinity data ocean circulation and the
will be fed daily into UK Met
Office forecast models and is
part of a wider program to
increase the amount of
data-gathering potential of
gliders is a key driving factor
behind the project. It will be
vital to inform future ocean
| WMO invests US$7m in early warning
systems in Cambodia and Laos
The WMO’s Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS)
observational data for ingestion modeling conditions and steering committee has agreed to provide an additional US$7m
into models run on a weather patterns. This in funding for Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic
new supercomputer. It will support decision
Republic (PDR), bringing the total CREWS portfolio in the
will support the Met making in vital UK
Office’s work to improve services, such as search two countries to US$12m. Cambodia is one of 30 countries
forecast accuracy. and rescue, counter- chosen to accelerate the implementation of the UN secretary-
Jim Trice, pollution and ocean general’s Early Warnings for All initiative. The funding is
observations network biodiversity.” intended to strengthen effective and risk-informed early
manager at the Met Office, https://tinyurl.com/4jjx7ek5 warning services, especially against floods and droughts.
https://tinyurl.com/yhwz5cr6

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 5

Space weather
Jack Roper

WATCH

SPAC
THIS

6 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Space weather

Space weather could cause chaos on Earth

unless further developments in forecasting

E
are made, with geomagnetic storms at risk
of disrupting radio signals and navigation
systems and even causing blackouts.
Meteorological Technology International
speaks to experts in the space weather
sector to find out what is being done to
ensure we are well prepared for such events

MAIN IMAGE: Imperial

College London and Eutelsat
T he first recorded telescope
observations of a solar flare,
made independently by English
astronomers Richard Carrington
and Richard Hodgson, occurred on
September 1, 1859. A coronal mass
ejection (CME) reached Earth 17.6 hours later,
causing a powerful geomagnetic storm with
aurorae reported as far south as Cuba and Hawaii.
Telegraph lines sparked, setting offices ablaze,
and ghostly messages continued to travel the
wires after power was disconnected due to
geomagnetically induced currents.
“There’s evidence the Carrington Event flare
following geomagnetic storms. Our dependence
on technology makes us far more vulnerable
to space weather than in 1859.”
Space weather is a catch-all term for
phenomena emanating from the sun. Solar flares,
(intense, localized spumes of electromagnetic
radiation) can reach us in minutes at close to
light speed. CMEs (ejections of plasma with
complex magnetic fields) travel Earthward on the
continuously outflowing solar wind in timescales
from hours to days. Both can produce solar
energized particles (SEPs), which pose a radiation
hazard to astronauts and high-altitude aviators.
“Those external phenomena then interact
OneWeb are looking at how
was 5 to 10 times larger than anything seen with Earth’s magnetosphere,” Barnard explains.
magnetometer sensors can
help detect space weather
in the Space Age,” says University of Reading “Geomagnetic storms occur when CMEs transfer
postdoctoral research assistant Dr Luke Barnard. energy to Earth’s magnetic field, where charged
RIGHT: NOAA’s Space “We know a complex-looking sunspot group was particles become trapped. Processes are often
Weather Prediction Center seen on the sun’s photosphere and only a series coupled, but an extremely energetic CME driving
of strong CMEs could plausibly have caused the a large SEP event and triggering geomagnetic

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 7

 Space weather
ESA/Science Office

Space weather falls under an ESA Space Safety

Program that also addresses planetary defense,

We do well at seeing and space debris and sustainable use of space. ESA’s
federated approach networks capabilities across
member states. Solar events are first characterized
modeling CMEs to estimate arrival by ESA’s solar weather group; the heliospheric
weather group plots solar events’ transit across

times but intensity is highly uncertain”

space then other groups estimate space radiation,
ionospheric weather and geomagnetic impacts.
“We have limited operational monitoring
Shawn Dahl, Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA
capability and often rely on converted science
missions to observe the sun,” explains Luntama.
“One workhorse is the Solar and Heliospheric
storms would probably cause the most severe Observatory (SOHO), orbiting at the L1 Lagrange
space weather,” he adds. point between Earth and the sun. SOHO’s
coronagraph observes the sun’s corona and UV
Observing the sun imagers observe the solar disk. We may wait hours
Geomagnetic storms heat Earth’s ionosphere, for data, whereas operational applications require
causing radio interference or blackouts, continuous, near-to-real-time information. Like
disrupting satellite navigation and increasing many space-based assets, SOHO is old and we fear
atmospheric drag, making satellites likely to losing it,” he adds.
deorbit. By increasing the convection of Earth’s When coronagraph imagery reveals outflowing
magnetic field lines, they induce currents in the CMEs, ground-based magnetographs provide
ground that could wipe electromagnetically observations of the sun’s magnetic field, from
stored data and destroy the transformers on which solar wind speeds may be inferred and
which electricity grids depend. “Our capability CME arrival times at Earth thus estimated.
to detect solar events is pretty good,” says Solar flares are forecast probabilistically, with
Juha-Pekka Luntama, head of the European Space magnetographs and extreme ultraviolet (EUV)
Agency (ESA) Space Weather Office. “Ideally, we imagers used to detect energy building in
want about two days’ warning to prepare power complicated sunspots.
grids by balancing or reducing loads – but that “Today, we have no means to follow a CME’s
forecast capability is where we’re lacking.” propagation after about two hours, when it leaves

8 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Space weather
THE POTENTIAL OF THE EUTELSAT
ONEWEB CONSTELLATION

S
pace weather forecasting is inhibited magnetic field to drive geomagnetic storms.
by limited observations, but low- Because we have little detail on that, we have
Earth-orbiting satellite constellations limited skill in forecasting intensity.”
promise new means to monitor NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center
solar events. Dr Martin Archer,
Stephen Hawking Fellow at Imperial
(SWPC) is in Boulder, Colorado. While many
College London, is exploring the potential of nations have lately established space weather
the Eutelsat OneWeb constellation to capture offices to support space operations, SWPC
space weather information. has worked with NASA since the Apollo era. It
“Recent years have seen an increase in collaborates closely with the US Air Force and,
distributed telecommunications satellites space weather being a planetary issue, compares
covering the entire globe,” comments Archer. forecasts with UK and Australian colleagues and
“OneWeb, the second-largest of these coordinates with China and Russia in providing
megaconstellations, is expected to have science requires stable funding, and the advice to global aviation.
643 satellites in orbit by 2025.” technical challenges are complex.
These will employ anisotropic “We need to calibrate the sensors to subtract
“We’re the nation’s official source for space
magnetoresistive (AMR) sensors, which are all the contamination caused by currents used to weather alerts, watches and warnings,” comments
chip-type magnetometers that determine the operate the satellite, leaving only the signals SWPC senior forecaster Shawn Dahl. “Like
satellite’s orientation based on resistivity caused from Earth’s magnetic field and space weather,” most meteorological offices, we staff forecast
by Earth’s magnetic field. Potentially, these could Archer explains. “If we have enough distributed operations 24/7 – except we’re trying to forecast
also detect the magnetic signals emitted from measurement points, we could use fitting if and how events 93 miles [150km] away will
space weather. techniques to fill any blanks.” impact Earth,” he continues.
“We’ve worked with those sensors for 10 years OneWeb measurements downloaded to SWPC relies on operational satellites and
at Imperial,” says Archer. “We’ve demonstrated ground stations in real time could provide a new NASA science missions to inform forecasts.
that the tech can measure field-aligned currents and global picture of space weather. “Space
due to space weather on 10 x 10 x 30cm weather is a global hazard,” says Archer. “We
NOAA’s GOES-R series geostationary weather
CubeSats. The next leap is seeing whether have only a few space-based observation points. satellites have instruments including a solar
we can take similar data from a subsystem There’s better ground-based coverage but half ultraviolet imager (SUVI) to observe the sun at
of 643 satellites already in orbit.” the ground is water. A global scientific data set different wavelengths, an extreme ultraviolet
A UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship will fund may allow better understanding of physical sensor (EUVS) and an x-ray sensor (XRS), which is
Archer’s work at Imperial College London for processes to trickle through and improve space useful in monitoring flares. NOAA’s Deep Space
seven years. This matters, because ambitious weather forecasting.” Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) monitors solar
wind at the L1 point of gravitational equilibrium
on the sun-Earth line.
the field-of-view of coronagraph instruments,” “We also rely on research satellites,” Dahl
says Luntama. “For 15 hours, we bite our continues. “NASA’s ACE (Advanced Composition
fingernails and run simulations. Vigil [see Explorer) also orbits at L1. DSCOVR has problems
ESA’s revolutionary Vigil spacecraft, page 10] with elements of the solar wind, so we use ACE
will improve that by giving us permanent to fill those gaps. SOHO provides our only
stereoscopic visibility of solar events.” observations of the sun’s corona but that imagery

40%
is subject to latency and delays. The good news is
Addressing knowledge gaps that GOES-U will have a compact coronagraph
Space weather, like conventional meteorology, to provide much quicker vigilance and should be
must combine observations with simulation. operational by fall 2024.”
Besides planning missions to improve of experts surveyed by Data collected a million miles away reaches
observations, ESA uses and develops heliophysics the University of Reading SWPC’s server room within five minutes. It is
models and models of Earth’s magnetosphere and combined with observations from sources
ionosphere to forecast terrestrial impacts. But expressed doubts about the including Air Force optical and radio telescopes
space weather happens fast – and fundamental current accuracy of space to feed models which are not yet so well developed
knowledge gaps preclude forecasting events in weather forecasts as those used in meteorology. SWPC three-day
advance of observation. forecasts, issued at 00:30 UTC and 12:30 UTC each
“Forecasting solar eruptions is the Rosetta day, are used to inform satellite, communication,
stone of space weather,” says Luntama. “Sunspots infrastructure and aviation operations.
are magnetic anomalies emerging somewhere “We really need a side view of the sun at
deep in the sun. But when and why they erupt, Lagrange point L5,” says Dahl. “We do well at
we don’t fully understand. The European Solar seeing and modeling CMEs to estimate arrival
Orbiter and US Parker Solar Probe missions times but intensity is highly uncertain. We only
may help improve our understanding.” know if the CME’s magnetic field orientation will
Launched in 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics connect solidly with Earth’s magnetic field and
Observatory (SDO) performs imaging experiments ABOVE LEFT: ESA illustration cause geomagnetic activity when it passes those
on small temporal and spatial scales and many of the numerous sectors that can L1 spacecraft 1,000,000 miles [1,600,000km] out.”
simultaneous wavelengths, designed to enable be affected by space weather
understanding and prediction of solar variability. ABOVE: Dr Martin Archer, Data assimilation
“We predict CME arrival times quite well,” says Stephen Hawking Fellow at While the Carrington Event is widely considered
Barnard. “But a CME’s magnetic field structure Imperial College London a one-in-a-hundred-year worst-case scenario,
determines how effectively it couples with Earth’s the possible severity of a one-in-a-thousand-year

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 9

Space weather
ESA’S REVOLUTIONARY
VIGIL SPACECRAFT

T
he Lagrange points are points in space
where the sun and Earth exert a balanced
gravitational influence on small-mass
event is hard to extrapolate from 60 years objects. While L1, L 2 and L 3 occur on a line polarizing heliospheric imager
of reliable observations. A University of transecting the two bodies, L4 and L 5 each form to record structures transitioning
Reading study surveyed 144 experts, 52% the third vertex of an equilateral triangle relative from the corona to the solar wind,
of whom believe future geomagnetic to our planet and star. may advance our ability to locate
storms could surpass even In development and scheduled for launch later this decade, Earth-bound CMEs.
Carrington-like magnitudes. ESA’s Vigil spacecraft is destined for orbit at L 5, 60° from the Luntama emphasizes a need to
“Space-based observations only sun-Earth line, to provide transformative sideways solar formalize the availability of current
started in 1961,” says Barnard. “We have observation capability. “For the first time in history, we will measurements. “Ground-based
have permanent stereoscopic visibility of solar events,” says
some geomagnetic observations back instruments that monitor space weather
ESA’s Juha-Pekka Luntama. “We currently lose sight of CMEs
to the 1880s. Beyond that, we can make about two hours from onset. But Vigil will allow us to follow worldwide are based on proposals for
informed judgments from our knowledge the plasma cloud traveling toward Earth, see whether it academic research, so their future is
of physical processes. Recorded slows or merges with another plasma cloud, and thereby always uncertain,” he says. “We work
observations from cosmogenic isotopes better predict arrival times and impacts.” with member states to ensure the safety
Carbon-14 and Beryllium-10, found in Vigil’s comprehensive payload will include a coronagraph to of systems critical to protecting our
trees and ice cores respectively, show observe CMEs, a heliospheric imager to follow their propagation infrastructure, which should in future
historic spikes most plausibly toward Earth and a magnetograph to measure the solar disk’s be operationalized.”
attributable to an extreme SEP event.” magnetic field and enable models of background solar wind.
NASA will provide an extreme UV imaging instrument.
In the University of Reading study,
“Typically, L1 missions split the instruments between the
Space privatization
40% of experts surveyed lacked L1 satellite, Earth-orbiting satellites and even ground-based Demand for space weather information
confidence in current forecasts, while observations,” says Luntama. “Because L 5 has no planet continues evolving, notably through the
many saw deploying small-satellite behind, we have to put all the instruments on the spacecraft.” privatization of space. In February 2022,
constellations close to the sun as the Vigil will also provide in-situ measurements of the solar 40 Starlink satellites deorbited and were
most promising means to improve wind and its magnetic field at L 5. This will enable forecasting lost shortly after launch because a minor
them. Barnard underlines the promise of high-speed solar wind streams hitting Earth and help geomagnetic storm heating the upper
of Vigil to provide continuous, three- forewarn satellite operators of conditions conducive to atmosphere caused additional drag.
dimensional visibility of CMEs and problems like surface charging of satellites. “They weren’t paying attention to space
advance notice of structures forming on weather,” says Dahl. “Space tourism will
European Space Agency
the side of the sun rotating round to face soon be a thing, if billionaires’ visions
us. He expects models to rapidly evolve. hold true. We can educate private
“Data assimilation revolutionized enterprises and support them indirectly
meteorological forecasts and is now with our models and forecasts.”
being applied to space weather,” says Dahl and Barnard counsel against
Barnard. “Combining model estimates alarmism engendered by sensationalist
with observations of a system state headlines, as space weather poses no
could reduce the uncertainties in CME direct physical threat at ground level
arrival-time forecasts from 12 to 6 hours. and SWPC provides US citizens with
Ensemble modeling will allow us to information from a trusted source.
simultaneously run many forecasts, Yet Dahl, who liaises with federal
initialized with different conditions emergency planners, acknowledges
reflecting uncertainties in CME or ambient the unpredictable social consequences of a
solar wind structures.” latter-day Carrington Event.
Besides more observations, there may be ABOVE: ESA’s space weather “If people living off-grid suddenly see the
new types of observation. Barnard himself mission – ESA Vigil aurora, what do they think?” he asks. “We’re
uses a heliospheric imager, which resembles a BELOW: Observations of the talking no water, heating or power, traffic lights
baffle camera and observes the solar wind by coronal mass ejection, October and ports not working, billions lost in commerce.
isolating one part in 1,014 of solar white light. 14, 2014, as seen by various We all love buying frozen items from the grocery
NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the sun-watching spacecraft store, which these events could inhibit.”
Corona and Heliosphere) mission, using a Luntama notes that for two decades, Earth
has seen so little space weather that
his role has almost seemed boring.
But the risks remain real, as does
the vulnerability inherent in the
technological dependence we have
chosen. “We’re overdue a Carrington
event,” says Dahl. “In 2023, a CME at
Carrington-like speeds on the sun’s
far side was strong enough to cross
all the magnetic field lines necessary
to cause radiation storms on Earth.
We haven’t not seen them – we’ve just
had some near misses.” z
SDO/NASA; SOHO (ESA & NASA); NASA/Stereo; ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium

10 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

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Space radiation
Jack Roper

SERVE
SERVE
AND
AND
Meteorological Technology International
examines NASA’s work to improve the prediction
of space radiation, which is one of the greatest
threats to an astronaut’s health and can cause
critical damage to space-based instrumentation

PROTECT
PROTECT
C oronal mass ejections (CMEs) may
present space weather’s greatest threat
to terrestrial infrastructure. But in deep
space, where hardware and astronauts
are not protected by Earth’s sheltering
magnetosphere, solar energized particle
events (SEPs) become the primary menace. SEPs can
occur when CMEs or solar flares fire volleys of
accelerated particles outward through the solar system.
“Those protons and electrons can have
gigaelectronvolt (GeV) energies,” says Dr Lulu Zhao,
a research scientist in the climate and space sciences
and engineering (CLaSP) department at the University
of Michigan. “A severe event may expose astronauts to
damage. It could also damage instruments or flip their
digits to produce incorrect measurements.”
NASA continues to launch assets with observational
capability. Based at Johnson Space Center, its Space
Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) works closely with
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) to
produce space weather nowcasts and analysis. It also
communicates directly with NASA Mission Control.
“SRAG supports the International Space Station and
Artemis missions,” says Dr Michelangelo Romano, deputy
director of NASA’s Moon to Mars (M2M) Space Weather
Analysis Office. “SRAG monitors real-time electron,
proton or x-ray flux data streams that could correlate to
known thresholds for human or instrument impacts.
radiation exceeding a safe lifetime dose and cause genetic Alongside that, information from dosimeters on

14 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Space radiation

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 15

 Space radiation

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara sets up

the International Space Station’s CEVIS
exercise cycle to collect data for The
Complement of Integrated Protocols
for Human Exploration Research on
Varying Mission Durations (CIPHER).
This investigation collects data from
different astronauts to study
physiological and psychological
changes that crew members experience
on missions of varying durations

Center (CCMC) as an in-house research-to-

operations-to-research pipeline. CCMC hosts

A severe event may expose many space weather models used for scientific
studies, a subset of which may be applicable to
running in real time to protect mission assets
astronauts to radiation exceeding a safe and human life.”
Such models are transitioned to the M2M

lifetime dose and cause genetic damage” Office and run in an operational environment
by a team of analysts. The Artemis I test flight
provided an opportunity to assess their
Dr Lulu Zhao, University of Michigan
performance in real time with real mission
data streams, which will inform development.
spacecraft or personnel helps to inform decisions “Experimental models may be developed to
about mission activities.” simulate a historical event,”
comments Romano. “The
Protection measures trick is implementing those
Protecting instruments chiefly entails powering empirical or physics-based
down to safe mode until a particle event has capabilities without complete
passed. For astronauts, spacecraft provide some science-level data, but just
protection, and extravehicular activities (EVAs) coarse, real-time data that
may be postponed when radiation is enhanced. may contain gaps or
“Shielding with mass is the principal inaccuracies. Human-in-
mitigation,” says Romano. “On the International the-loop analysis may
Space Station, they may instruct the crew to take support models running
shelter in a well-shielded section of the spacecraft. in real time. For example,
For Artemis II, the crew may bunker down in the we actively analyze the
Orion capsule’s storm shelter until a particle event kinematic parameters of
ends, then resume normal operations.” CMEs to support SEP
Following Artemis I’s 25-day uncrewed lunar prediction models.”
test flight in 2022, Artemis II will take four
The space station’s
astronauts on a lunar flyby no earlier than Developing better warnings
cupola windows
September 2025. Artemis II will pave the way for provide the crew a
This all remains probabilistic,
a future Artemis III mission, which will land the unique view of the since not all CMEs trigger
first woman on the moon and demonstrate deep planet. Source: NASA SEP events and the physical mechanisms driving
space capabilities required for onward space their relationship are imperfectly known.
exploration to Mars. Fundamentally, nowcasting SEPs – which can
NASA established the M2M Space Weather arrive in under one hour – allows limited time
Analysis Office in 2020 to support missions of for life-saving mitigations. Better lead times
increasing number and complexity. “Our office require predictive capacity, which the CLaSP
originated within the Heliophysics Science Center for All-Clear Solar Energetic Particle
Division at Goddard Space Flight Center,” Forecast (CLEAR Center) aims to develop.
comments Romano. “We collaborate with SRAG “The space weather community has at least
and NASA’s Community Coordinated Modeling 20 SEP models, each with advantages and

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 17

Space radiation
BepiColombo is Europe’s first mission to Mercury.
Launched in October 2018, it is on a seven-year
journey to the smallest and least explored
terrestrial planet in the solar system

ESA’S ROLE IN
SAFEGUARDING HUMAN
EXTRAPLANETARY
EXPLORERS
As European Space Agency (ESA) probes voyage outward
through the distant reaches of our solar system, they are
protected by information from the Space Weather Office, which disadvantages,” says Zhao. “Our center will
has networked pre-existing European capabilities into a resilient integrate those to provide comprehensive
federated architecture. prediction. We have limited knowledge of what
“Our pleasure is to observe space weather anywhere in the triggers flares or CMEs but can use machine
solar system,” comments Juha-Pekka Luntama, head of the learning to monitor the sun’s magnetic fields
Space Weather Office. “Our heliospheric weather group has tools
to make propagation estimates in any direction from the sun.
and extract features leading to solar eruptions.”
We began by providing space weather information to the Venus The newly established CLEAR Center expects
Express mission as it started to produce SEP forecasting that is analogous to
experimentally orbiting through a smartphone weather app for future space
the upper layers of the Venusian missions. Zhao will lead a team of more than 20
atmosphere,” he adds. scientists in this five-year, US$10m NASA-funded
Now, Luntama’s office project, and notes that the application of machine
provides regular bulletins to the learning to solar observation has already shown
BepiColombo mission bound for promising results.
Mercury and will support ESA’s
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
“Our center will use physics-informed or
(Juice) launched last year. interpretable machine learning methods,” she
These missions are unmanned, explains. “We can train models to identify features
but Luntama anticipates already developed in efforts to predict flares. Or,
a near future in which if a model extracts its own features and performs
accurate radiation forecasts well, our statisticians can do a feature importance
will safeguard human analysis to potentially understand things we
extraplanetary explorers. didn’t know.”
The ESA/JAXA Unfortunately, the ability One challenge is the shortage of comprehensive
BepiColombo mission to accurately forecast solar
eruptions remains limited by an incomplete grasp of their causes.
solar observations on which the models may train.
on a close flyby of
Nevertheless, a problem well framed is often half solved. “If you’re Zhao’s team will compile historic observations
Mercury in June 2023,
passing the planet’s planning a picnic, you don’t want a thunderstorm forecast,” from some 20 instruments scattered among
surface at an altitude Luntama observes. “You want a forecast of when there won’t be different spacecraft and dating back to 1973, to
of about 236km a thunderstorm. We cannot tell when an active solar region will create a benchmark data set available to the entire
produce an eruption. But if no active regions are visible, we can scientific community, useful to both train and
say there is a lower chance of eruptions,” he continues. validate forecast models.
“A moon flight is relatively simple because it takes only a “We already have empirical, physics-based and
couple of days,” he continues. “Mars will be different. Even the machine learning models,” says Zhao. “But they
shortest flight will take six months, and today we cannot make
a six-month forecast. Personally, I think we should build a
may not be ready to run in real time. By validating
permanent base on the moon and practice working in that their outputs against past observations, we can
somewhat hostile environment, before we move on to Mars.” understand the uncertainties and fine-tune
parameters to increase their robustness.”

The next mission

Beyond the moon, Mars beckons. The M2M Office,
established to study space weather not merely
on the sun-Earth line but 360° around the sun,
collaborates with current robotic Mars missions
to develop the prerequisite capabilities for

Our heliospheric weather group

human exploration. “It’s a longer trip through
interplanetary space without the protection of
Earth’s magnetic fields,” says Romano. “Mars

has tools to make propagation estimates is sometimes on the opposite side of the sun,
so there’s a whole logistics of communication.
We’re just starting to push the boundaries to
in any direction from the sun” understand how phenomena could be observed
from Mars and how quickly such observations
Juha-Pekka Luntama, European Space Agency could be used to support real-time analysis.” z

18 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

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Sustainable observing systems
Keri Allan

GOING

GREEN
20 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024
 Sustainable observing systems

The WMO shares its work

to date on the development
of more environmentally
sustainable observing
systems and methods for
the global meteorological
and hydrological sectors

The WMO held a forum on

Advancing the Environmental
Sustainability of Observing
Systems and Methods at
Meteorological Technology
World Expo 2023 in Geneva,
Switzerland
D espite the importance of weather
data collection in assessing the
environmental impacts of climate
change, the technologies and
practices used to collect it can
have a negative effect on the
environment. Issues can be found across the
lifecycle of technologies, practices and standards,
including energy consumption and waste
generation. Concerns about this were first raised
by the WMO in 2021, when the organization
ratified the Global Basic Observing Network
(GBON) technical regulation and representatives
from the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)
noted that the regulation didn’t address the
potential environmental impacts of increased
observational sites.
The outcome was a commitment from the
WMO to promote the development and adoption
of cost-effective strategies and technologies that
are operationally and environmentally
sustainable. The WMO asked if the MSC would be
interested in leading this work and Shannon Kaya,
director of MSC’s transformation, innovation and
engineering division, was appointed as WMO
focal point for environmental sustainability.
Her work began in 2022 with a survey sent
out to all WMO members and a presentation at
the TECO conference. Interest in advancing the
sustainability of observing systems and methods
has continued to gain momentum and last year
Kaya held a two-day virtual workshop for which
more than 400 people registered. She followed this
with a presentation at Meteorological Technology
World Expo (MTWE) in Geneva, Switzerland, in
October 2023.

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 21

Sustainable observing systems

LEFT: The Meteorological Service

of Canada’s Shannon Kaya speaking
at Meteorological Technology World
Expo, October 3, 2023

RIGHT: NOAA’s Mauna Loa

Observatory in Hawaii

A need to do better
Kaya and her colleagues have found that met
services around the world know that the
ACHIEVING NET
environmental sustainability of their observation
systems is an issue and want action, but most ZERO IN HAWAII

N
have yet to take significant steps.
“What came out of the survey was a lot OAA was awarded US$5m from the US
Department of Energy (DoE) earlier
of positivity around doing better; that the this year to convert the Hawaii-based
met agencies not only have a critical role in Mauna Loa atmospheric baseline
understanding our environment but are also observatory to a net zero facility. The
responsible for protecting it,” Kaya says. “It’s funds will be used to purchase solar
almost ironic that we play such a critical role in panels and battery storage systems to enable
understanding our changing climate but at the the site to run on renewable energy.
same time we are contributing to the problem. Since the Mauna Loa Observatory already the availability and quality of our
“The general consensus was a need for more uses roof collection systems to capture the water data,” Kaya states.
coordination, regulations and policies on the needed to run the 3.2ha campus, the observatory Another issue raised by the survey
would be the first Department of Commerce
topic, and that the WMO should be the driver of facility in the US to be net zero for both electricity
was having the technical expertise
change. Often investments ramp up when there’s and water. to address environmental issues,
a regulatory or legal requirement to achieve a When it comes to observation networks, whether that’s running training
specific goal – the Minamata Convention on NOAA has considered sustainability for many programs or simply doing things
Mercury is a perfect example of that. We’re not years. For example, the renovations to its Barrow differently. Changes to how
installing mercury thermometers anymore atmospheric baseline observatory in Utqiagvik, observations are collected need to
because we can’t, and we’re also getting rid Alaska, were completed in 2020, and the new be well thought out and implemented
of those we had.” research station meets Leadership in Energy and in a structured way.
Environmental Design (LEED) program standards. “When you switch to new
What’s holding them back? technologies, there’s a learning
Becoming more environmentally sustainable is curve. So, in addition to budgetary
no simple task for met services. One of the biggest constraints, human resources is also
challenges in working toward this goal is resource a concern for many agencies, but even
constraints. Many organizations are already more so in developing countries.
operating under budgetary pressures and simply Some are struggling just to get a
cannot afford to make the changes that will strong network up and running,”
reduce their impact on the environment. Kaya points out.
Furthermore, their top priority must continue
to be maintaining the quality and availability of The greatest opportunities
the data required for accurate forecasting and for success
modeling. Many survey respondents noted that The survey results highlighted where WMO
they can’t take steps to improve the members sees the greatest opportunities for
environmental sustainability of their observing success. Policy development came out as a
networks because the technology simply isn’t primary opportunity for advancing environmental
there yet. “We can’t take the risk of compromising sustainability, but there was also a lot of positivity

22 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Sustainable observing systems

LIFECYCLE ANALYSIS AT THE UK MET OFFICE

T
he UK Met Office’s observations “We’ve had an ongoing dialog with our
department is aware that many of its current radiosonde supplier, who has developed
activities have environmental impacts. a model that uses 66% less plastic in its
It is therefore looking to give more construction and contains many bio-based
consideration to lifecycle issues during parts,” says the Met Office’s Darren Lyth. “It has
procurement, along with energy also developed biodegradable twine to attach
consumption and emissions during use, and the radiosonde to the balloon. We are also
disposal of observing instruments at end of life. exploring the use of non-plastic materials for
Use of radiosondes and ocean-going hard plastic buoys.” The Met Office aims to become a net
buoys and floats is also a concern. zero greenhouse gas emitter by 2030.

around the potential for technical innovation.

Respondents noted that many vendors are already
moving in the right direction in anticipation of
future regulations or policies, investing in R&D
for new technologies and materials, developing
more energy-efficient monitoring systems, using
recycled materials in equipment manufacturing The Exeter head office of the UK
and embracing renewable power. Met Office uses an environmental
Vendors are conducting lifecycle analyses management system to help it
(LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact handle its environmental impacts
of products from raw material extraction to
end-of-life disposal. They are also implementing maintenance. “We need to use tools that make our
sustainable manufacturing processes like waste routes more efficient, especially in countries like
and emission reductions and water conservation, Canada that have such a large landmass,” she says.
and even minimizing packaging waste and using Extending the lifetime of equipment through
eco-friendly packaging materials. the implementation of proactive maintenance
On the flip side, some met services are programs and upgrading and retrofitting existing
analyzing where their suppliers are on their infrastructure is also a positive step, as is
environmental, social and governance (ESG) transitioning to hybrid or electric vehicles. This
journeys. The UK Met Office, for example, has is something the UK Met Office has begun. The
started a ‘kickstart assessment’ initiative of its organization has already met the current UK
top suppliers by spend. The UK Met Office is testing government target of 25% of civil service fleets
“The problem is, when performing a LCA on a sustainable weather balloon being ultra-low electric vehicles (ULEVs), and
solutions to reduce its
product or service, national met services can only this will rise to 100% by 2027. Electric vehicle
impact on the environment
directly measure the environmental impacts at charging infrastructure is being installed at its
the ‘use’ (just after we purchase it) and ‘disposal’ headquarters in Exeter as well as frontline sites.
stages,” says Darren Lyth, senior scientist, surface
observations systems R&D at the UK Met Office. Collaboration
“Anything earlier needs information and is key
collaboration with our supply chain, and on Kaya notes that
average 80% of ESG impact comes from the supply
chain,” he continues. “To reduce these impacts, we We need to use tools that increasing
international

make our routes more efficient,

need to know what a change means to suppliers collaboration
and their business, and each time we approach will improve
a change we need to think of it as a journey, and efficiencies, and
to understand where our suppliers are on their
sustainability journey.”
Organizations are clearly taking steps to
especially in countries like Canada points out that
some met services
are working with
incorporate sustainability principles. However, in
terms of how the met services can do better, Kaya
that have such a large landmass” industry partners
to “develop
points to better coordination of weather station Shannon Kaya, Meteorological Service of Canada solutions like the

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 23

Strapline
Sustainable observing systems

The new building for

the NOAA Barrow
Atmospheric Baseline
Observatory has been
officially certified as
LEED silver

How will it be disposed or

recycled at end-of-life?

BIOFUEL TO POWER
“My focus now is working with
vendors to understand what their
needs are, and what we can do
STORM-TRACKING from a WMO perspective to put
together policies and regulations
WEATHER RADAR that they can meet and will create
a market for them.”

L
ast year a team of scientists led by the UK
National Centre for Atmospheric Science Words matter
(NCAS) used biofuel-powered weather radars The WMO has been placing more
compact, energy-efficient weather monitoring to observe stormy conditions in a more importance on environmental
station that can be easily deployed in environmentally sustainable way. These were sustainability in all its
environmentally sensitive areas”. used as part of the WOEST campaign, which discussions. Outcomes so far have
She continues, “These ‘potential boxes’ focused on tracking turbulent processes in the included a resolution adopted into
leverage renewable energy sources and atmosphere, with a view to improving forecasts of the WMO Strategic Plan for
severe storms. The team used a range of technology,
incorporate sustainable materials to minimize including weather radars, weather balloons,
2024-2027 to ensure the
their environmental impact while providing unmanned aerial systems, cloud cameras and an environmentally sustainable
reliable weather and climate data.” extensive network of ground-based sensors to monitor design of observing programs.
Openly sharing data can help reduce the onset of thunderstorms in the south of England. “That’s a big, powerful
duplication and fill gaps, Kaya says. “Perhaps this The project pioneered a novel approach using two statement for the WMO to make
will enable us to reduce how many new stations steerable weather radar set up to specifically track and and a very positive step,” Kaya
we build. This may be a controversial view, but observe convective clouds while the FAAM Airborne says. “We’ve also seen an annex
for a long time our culture has been ‘more data Laboratory’s research aircraft flew overhead. added to the GBON resolution
is better’, but I think we should probably shift Researchers combined observations from every angle that states that members shall
to help them describe turbulence in the atmosphere.
our thinking to the impact of that data. Ultimately they will use the observations to improve
‘strive to design, install, manage
“Will a new station or the launch of more how weather is predicted on a day-to-day basis. and operate stations within their
radiosondes make a difference to the accuracy of The pair of steerable weather radars were powered networks in an environmentally
our forecast or models? If that increase is 0.002%, by GreenD+ HVO biofuel generators rather than sustainable fashion’. They may
let’s consider whether that makes sense from an diesel fuel sourced from crude oil, which reduced just be words but they’re
environmental perspective.” greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%. important ones that are changing
the direction of the WMO.”
Incentivizing vendors Given the increasing global
As WMO focal point for environmental focus on sustainability, it’s
sustainability, Kaya has spent the past two years possible that related discussions
starting the conversation. She believes the next and initiatives within the industry
step is working more closely with the vendor will continue to evolve, and it’s
community, because “they’re ultimately going expected that more met agencies
to provide the solutions we need”. will engage in this dialog.
The challenge is that often environmental MSC, for example, is planning
sustainability doesn’t always coincide with vendor its own ‘opportunity scan’ (a
business models, so the WMO must be innovative more positive spin on an audit)
in creating a market for manufacturers that to identify areas for improving
incentivizes them to choose this pathway. “If standards, practices and methods
we introduce a regulation for biodegradable related to environmental sustainability. Kaya
radiosondes, vendors then have a market and plans to share the output of these efforts with the
will respond by developing these. WMO for consideration as a best practice.
Policies need to be put in place to She’s also aware of the importance of public
create a market for the vendor engagement and communication to drive positive

We need to consider
community to do the R&D that’s change, and the potential for innovation that
required to develop solutions,” exists within academia. “The academic
Kaya comments. community, students and the younger generation
“And we need to consider
regulations that touch the whole
lifecycle. How does it impact the
regulations that touch the have a real desire to do something, rather than
just talk about it. I’m energized by this and excited
to be a part of ensuring the WMO facilitates
ecosystem when installed? What
materials is it made of? How is it
whole lifecycle” dialog, shares best practice and promotes
collaboration to address environmental
packaged and delivered on-site? Shannon Kaya, Meteorological Service of Canada challenges effectively,” Kaya enthuses. z

24 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

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PLAN WARN MITIGATE ADAPT

Impact-based forecasting
Paul Willis

Meteorological Technology International explores

the continued development of impact-based
forecasting, which provides the information needed
to act before disasters to minimize the human and

CAUSE
economic costs of weather and climate hazards

AND

EFFECT
26 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024
 Impact-based forecasting

O n three consecutive days in late April

2011, a series of deadly tornadoes ripped
across the USA. Known as the Super
Outbreak, the weather event involved 360
tornadoes across 21 states and led to the
loss of nearly 350 lives. It was the largest,
costliest tornado outbreak – and one of the deadliest –
ever recorded in the US. Many of those killed came from
“vulnerable and under-served communities”, according
to Dave Bieger, chief of the decision support integration
branch of the US National Weather Service (NWS).
Bieger says that the Super Outbreak “underscored
the need to support public safety officials in better
understanding weather impacts so they can make
informed and effective decisions”. He notes that the
disaster was pivotal in shifting the NWS toward

WEATHER
embracing a new form of weather forecasting
that emphasizes the likely impacts of a
weather event.
Known to many as impact-based

WARNING
forecasting (though Bieger prefers the
term ‘impact-based services’), this
new form of forecasting is based on
extensive social sciences research
showing that people are more likely to
take action if they understand the potential
impact of an event. “The whole point of doing
impact-based warnings is to provide actionable
advice that people can make some use of,” says Chris
Walsh, head of warnings and guidance at the UK Met
Office. “If you tell someone there are going to be 50mph
[80km/h] winds, it could mean nothing to them. The way
we try to do our warnings is to make the weather a bit
more real for people.”
For its impact-based warnings the Met Office uses a
color scale system in which yellow, amber and red denote
progressively bigger potential impacts. Beyond the color
codes, each impact level also includes specific details on

Impact-based forecasting
considers the vulnerability of
people and property and warns
of what the weather will do and
what the impacts might be

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 27

Impact-based forecasting

In the news

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA RECEIVES

US$1.4M GRANT FOR IMPACT-BASED
WILDFIRE RESEARCH Currently, NWS communicates risks via a
product called the Impact-Based Warning. The

I
warning takes the form of so-called ‘event tags’,
n February of this year, the the USA, better characterize land
Cooperative Institute for Severe and surface conditions post-wildfire and which appear at the bottom of severe weather
High-Impact Weather Research and enhance understanding of hydrological warnings issued by the weather service. In the
Operations (CIWRO) at the response to flash floods/debris flows case of a tornado warning, for example, the
University of Oklahoma received post-wildfire. event tag will include tornado threat
US$1.4m to conduct research into Using deployable radar and information such as the threat posed to life,
mitigating the impacts of wildfires uncrewed aerial systems, scientists business and property.
across the country. will collect unique observations of Bieger notes that research from the WMO
CIWRO will use the grant to conduct active wildfires and post-wildfire suggests that, “There may not be a one-size-
two major studies: probabilistic fire environments. This data will be used
fits-all way to conduct impact-based messaging.
weather guidance and fire weather for detailed case analyses of wildfire-
observation analysis. Using 15 years and post-wildfire-related events. It will The point of this transition is to find ways to
of wildfire data, the probabilistic fire also be used for the validation and best meet the needs of specific populations,
weather guidance project will identify development of the warn-on-forecast so different kinds of messaging systems may
a statistical relationship between the system for smoke, to improve naturally result.”
critical level of fire weather outlooks short-term forecasts of up to three
that are issued by the National Weather hours in high-impact fire weather What influences a weather impact
Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC) events. Improved fire weather impact There are many challenges to conveying the
and fire spread rate, as well as the cost observations and forecasts are impact of a weather event, not least of which is
of fire suppression. expected to aid decision making when
the fact that weather is by no means the only
“The resultant technology of this determining where life and property
project will provide real-time guidance impacts will be greatest and enable variable influencing how a weather event affects
on anticipated cost and magnitude better mitigation efforts. a community. For example, the same volume of
of fire suppression resources for a Read more at: www.meteorological rainfall can have very different consequences
wildfire scenario as statistically related technology international.com depending on the conditions on the ground,
to the probabilistic critical level notes Walsh.
forecast of SPC fire weather outlooks,” “If you have 30mm in a couple of hours, and
says David Jahn, a research scientist it’s on completely dry ground at the start of the
at CIWRO and principal investigator on season, it might have no impact whatsoever,”
the project. “Such technology will be
he says. “But if it’s on saturated ground where
of real value to fire and emergency
managers to anticipate the amount you’ve had a winter’s worth of rain, that may
and cost of resources to address a generate a warning.”
specific wildfire event.” Another big influence on impacts are the
The fire weather observation demographics and the socioeconomics of the
analysis project aims to increase affected communities. To give a simple
understanding and improve example, the elderly are usually much more at
predictions of the structure, behavior risk from extreme weather than young people.
and downstream impacts of both Also, notes Walsh, young people – specifically
plume- and wind-driven wildfires in
young men between the ages of 18 and 30 – are
statistically “the most likely to not take any
action off the back of a warning”.
the potential risks of different weather events. This brings us to another problem with
ABOVE: From 2013 to 2022, Among the risks associated with a medium-level impact-based warnings, which is the perception
there were 61,410 wildfires on impact for rain, for example, are injuries with of risk and how it varies among different groups.
average annually in the USA danger to life, disruption to day-to-day routines “The perception of risks for a given weather
and activities, and transportation routes and event varies among the public based on a
travel services affected. variety of external individual and
socioeconomic factors including age, gender,
Weather tags at NWS education level, past experience and much
Although NWS also uses color scales to depict more,” says Bieger. “Some events are more
weather risks and impacts, “There is no singular difficult to visually experience, such as
scale for all weather hazards,” according to Bieger. excessive heat or cold, which in turn makes
He explains that NWS is working with experts demonstrating impact challenging.
in societal, behavioral and economic sciences “Moreover, some threats are discounted
to develop “more clear and cohesive messaging because they seem more controllable and less
of risks and impacts across a continuum of scary, even if they cause the most fatalities.
impact-based messaging”. Impact-based messaging is essential to bridge

28 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Impact-based forecasting

Impact-based forecasting
provides the information
people need to act before
disasters hit

these gaps in risk perception and inform

decisions,” he comments.

The private sector

The public are not the only ones who can benefit
from impact-based forecasting. Weather services
aimed at the private sector also use it.
Weatherzone is an Australian meteorological
company that provides weather data to private
industries including energy, utilities and mining.
Impact-based communication needs to take
account of how the same weather event can affect
industries differently, according to Ben
Domensino, a member of Weatherzone’s weather
risk communications team. Domensino offers the
example of a “southerly buster” – a weather event
common to the eastern New South Wales region
of Australia during the warmer months.
“These abrupt southerly wind changes cause a
rapid increase in wind speed and wave heights near
the coast and an abrupt drop in temperatures,”
he explains, noting that these climatic changes
can affect industries such as energy and marine
transportation in quite different ways.

TRACKING THE IMPACT OF WEATHER ON MIGRAINES

O
ne of the most interesting, the correlation between weather accuracy of future pain-related
though least understood, and a host of pain-related weather forecasts. While such
impacts of weather is how conditions including fibromyalgia, forecasts do already exist – the US
it affects pain-related rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, weather service AccuWeather, for
health conditions such as migraines and general back pain. example, provides daily arthritis
migraines and arthritis. For his study, he decided to take and migraine forecasts – Elcik says
Although several studies have the focus away from individual that not enough research has been
If you have found a correlation between
weather and pain-related
conditions, the exact nature of that
variables like temperature or
pressure because, as he notes, “If
I go outside on a given day, I don’t
done yet to consistently establish
the exact nature of the correlation
between pain and weather.
30mm in a couple correlation has often proved hard
to pin down, notes Chris Elcik,
just experience temperature or just
pressure. I get all these variables
“Currently, with so many studies
saying it’s due to high or low
a researcher on the subject at impacting me at once, temperature, pressure increases
of hours, and it’s the University of Georgia.
“There are a lot of studies
synergistically.”
With this in mind, Elcik chose to
or decreases, or that pressure has
nothing to do with it, with that level

on completely dry
out there that focus on weather focus more on weather features, of inconsistency, it’s just so hard to
variables such as pressure, such as “weather events, weather pinpoint a forecast,” he concludes.
temperature, moisture, but it’s types and air masses”. Other recent

ground at the start of really inconclusive,” says Elcik.

“Some studies find that higher
temperature leads to pain, other
studies have followed the same
approach, with much more
consistent results than the studies

the season, it might studies that low temperature leads

to pain; it’s all over the place.”
Determined to find his own
that focused on weather variables,
he notes. According to these
studies the most common weather

have no impact answers, Elcik, who is taking up a

position as an assistant professor
of meteorology at Salisbury
feature that seems to result in
higher incidences of pain-related
conditions is moist tropical air

whatsoever” University in Maryland later this

year, ran his own study looking at
mass. Elcik is hopeful that his
research will help inform the
Chris Walsh, UK Met Office

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 29

Impact-based forecasting

“A southerly buster can cause energy demand

to suddenly decrease as temperatures drop with
the change [and use their air-conditioners less],
which can affect the market price of energy,” he
continues. “However, the rapid onset of powerful
winds and larger waves during a southerly buster
can also make port operations dangerous,
sometimes requiring operators to secure vessels
Accurate impact-based
before the change arrives. forecasts can help the shipping
“Another example is fog, which can reduce sector prepare for dangerous
visibility enough to cause safety concerns for conditions at sea
operations at mines and airports. While visibility understanding of real-world impacts so that when
is not a big concern for the energy market, fog a similar weather event is predicted, it can more
lingering late into the day can limit the amount accurately forecast what the effects will be.
of heating near the surface, which can affect In an era of climate change, in which extreme
the day’s maximum temperature and therefore weather is becoming more prevalent, the switch
influence how much people need to use their to impact-based forecasting is of growing
air-conditioners,” he adds. importance. Unfortunately, the impacts of many
Understanding in advance the weather of the weather events that climate change is
vulnerabilities of different industries is an making more likely, such as thunderstorms,
important part of effectively communicating are also the hardest to predict.
impacts. Domensino says, “The main type “Thunderstorms are notoriously difficult to
of weather that impacts energy clients is predict because they are an extremely localized
temperature, as this is the primary driver of and high-impact mode of weather,” says
day-to-day energy demand. Utility operators Domensino. “Modern-day forecast models
are more concerned about weather that can help meteorologists predict how likely it is for
impact infrastructure, such as damaging winds, thunderstorms to develop in a general region
thunderstorms and fire. Mining operations can at any given time of day. However, until the
be affected by weather that impacts safety, such thunderstorm cells form, it is very difficult to
as fog, lightning and heavy rain.” know exactly where lightning will strike and
which locations will get the most rain or the
A team effort strongest winds from the storm.”
Understanding impacts on the broader public The UK is bracing itself for an uptick in what
is a more complex task and requires several Walsh terms “high-impact, low-likelihood” events
stakeholders, according to Walsh: “It’s a team in the coming years. As a result, a current big
effort rather than just one individual looking at area of focus for the Met Office is how to provide
a weather threshold and then trying to decide people with actionable information at very short
whether there’s an impact or not.” notice. “A thunderstorm can be very short notice
At the UK Met Office, a team of senior but very high impact,” says Walsh. “So what we’re
meteorologists is tasked with issuing impact- starting to look at is, if we give you 30 minutes’
based warnings but it doesn’t work in isolation. notice, what will you be able to do in that time
Several other groups within the agency feed the that is useful to you, and what’s the kind of critical
team with data that informs its decision making. lead time that you need to be able to take some
One of the most important of these groups, notes positive action? And that’s a question we’re diving
Walsh, is the team of civil contingencies advisors. into a lot more deeply now.” z
“That’s a group of people geographically
dispersed around the country that
link in with all the local resilience
forums,” he explains. “So, they’ll be

Mining operations can be affected

the ones speaking to the police, the
fire service and the local councils.”
After a major weather event,
the Met Office, via its civil
contingencies team, conducts
workshops regionally to understand
by weather that impacts safety, such
what the local impacts were.
Through this process it can build
as fog, lightning and heavy rain”
up a geographical and historical Ben Domensino, Weatherzone

30 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Case study: Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO)
Nick van de Giesen, co-founder, TAHMO and professor of water resources management,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology

10 YEARS
OF TAHMO
32 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024
 Case study: Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO)

This year the Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological

Observatory celebrates a decade in operation.
Co-founder Nick van de Giesen explains how
the project has progressed and reveals what he
hopes the next 10 years will bring

O n June 4, 2024, the

Trans-African
Hydro-Meteorological
Observatory (TAHMO)
will celebrate its 10th
anniversary in Nairobi,
Kenya. What started out as an idea to use
modern sensors and emerging telemetry
is now an operation that maintains a
network of more than 600 weather stations
in more than 20 African countries. With
over three billion datapoints, TAHMO
has become the largest provider of
African in-situ weather, water and
stations needed to be economically
constructed to be scientifically accurate,
environmentally stable and easily
maintained. We quickly realized that this
was a problem that demanded more than
novice instrument designers: we needed
the best, most dynamic engineers in a
company that could build and support
the technology.
Therefore, a relationship with Meter
Group was established. This developed into
a full partnership with co-development
and commitment to the long-term success
of the project. TAHMO and Meter have
climate data for national governments now worked through four generations
and researchers around the world. The of sensor platforms, each more accurate,
key success factor has been the motivated durable and easy to maintain than the
and highly skilled team of engineers and last. The station has gone on to become
technicians on the ground. A scalable IT a major product for Meter Group, which
system was also key to the growth over has sold the TAHMO-inspired station
the past decade. around the world to be used in scientific,
The present TAHMO network has agronomic and climatic studies.
been built through a variety of projects. TAHMO collaborates with many
It was jump-started by a generous grant other companies as well, as a consumer
from IBM that enabled the team to install of existing products and a co-developer
300 stations. After this, the team of new methods, such as for optical
successfully applied for grants from stream gauging and for the use of GPS
different organizations. Many projects for environmental observation.
aimed to provide warnings about Collaboration across the lines of
flooding or heavy weather, others to build academia, governmental offices and
information systems for agriculture. industry has also been a hallmark of
However, all projects come to an end the TAHMO project.
and the current challenge is the More than 90% of our weather
continuous maintenance of the hardware stations have been placed at secondary
and software systems when they do. schools, where they receive some social
and physical protection. In return, the
Collaboration is key stations can be used in the curriculum;
TAHMO envisioned a day when climate over the years, a rich set of teaching
TAHMO engineer and hydrological processes could be materials has been developed. Contact
George Sserwadda monitored so robustly that a small team with the teachers is very important as
(far left) visits a station could manage an entire continent. There small maintenance, especially simple
at a school in Uganda must be no moving parts, self-powered cleaning, greatly reduces operational
real-time telemetry, and all inconspicuous costs. Teacher engagement has been very
enough to avoid the interest of curious successful in some cases but less so in
passers-by. Furthermore, thousands of many others. When experienced teachers

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 33

Case study: Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO)

move on and new teachers come in, it takes time

and effort to build the same rapport.

From data to actionable information

TAHMO always works closely with government
organizations, typically the hydromet services.
In most cases, MoUs have been signed with the
hydromet services of the host countries to ensure
that data is available to government and science.
From the beginning, the idea was that when data
was used for commercial purposes, a small fee
would be charged to maintain the network. It
turned out that the market for raw meteorological
data is very small indeed. On one side, people see
data provision as a government task and insist on
having access for free. More importantly, people
would like to have actionable information and not
just data. A smallholder farmer would be happy to
learn that rain is expected tomorrow but could
not care less about yesterday’s barometric
pressure. There is a limited number of
applications that can be served by near-real-time
data. One, of course, would be the improvement
of weather forecasts by a better description of the
initial conditions and assimilation of measured
variables. Such a forecast process is more involved ABOVE:
than one might think, and we are only now Installation of a
starting small experiments in Ghana and Kenya. TAHMO station Satellite products are not reliable at field scale so
An important application is index-based crop at a secondary farmers are not paid when they should be, and
insurance. Such insurance has long been seen school paid when there is no reason. This undermines
by economists as an important way to lift trust and willingness to pay.
BELOW:
subsistence farmers into more productive and Distribution of
With a dense network of stations, in
market-oriented cropping methods. Many TAHMO stations combination with satellite information, TAHMO
insurance schemes have been tried but, in Africa, per March 2024 can say with much higher reliability whether
most have failed. A main hindrance has been or not farms were hit by a drought. Equally
the so-called basis risk, which is caused by the important is that data is available within a day,
extreme spatial variability of convective rainfall. so payment after a crop failure can be rapid,
enabling farmers to resow within the same
season. A pilot on germination insurance starts
this year in northern Ghana.
A second application, and one that is the basis
of many of our projects, concerns flood early
warning systems (FEWS). With the United
Nations Early Warnings for All initiative, we
expect this only to increase. Clearly, FEWS are the
responsibility of governments, but TAHMO can
play an important supporting role. For urban
flooding, one needs relatively dense observation
networks for which fully fledged standard
synoptic stations would be too costly, both
financially and in terms of human resources.
So far, we have mainly been involved in the
development of bespoke FEWS for large cities
such as Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Accra (Ghana)
and Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). With the Kenya
Meteorological Department (KMD), we are now
working on a modular system that can also be
cost-effective for smaller urban communities.
About two-thirds of Africa’s urban population
live in cities of less than 700,000 inhabitants.
With standard parts and software integrations,

34 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Case study: Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO)

KMD and other meteorological services will soon

be able to also serve these communities.

IT innovations
TAHMO is an extremely frugal organization. Our
income is very limited, and every cedi, shilling
and kwacha needs to be stretched to the limit
to ensure maximum output. An advanced data
management system, which includes quality
control, maintenance apps and asset
management software, has helped keep our
operational costs low. TAHMO has developed
an advanced QA/QC system, where AI-based
algorithms flag suspicious data that is then
checked by our staff. Although some sensor Installation of an
failures are readily found, others are far from easy early TAHMO station
to detect. Probably the most important variable is in Uganda
rainfall, and it is very difficult to detect rapidly if
a station is giving false negatives by not reporting TEMBO Africa programs – FEWS, agricultural
rain that does fall. We compare values with insurance and reservoir management are the
nearby stations, climate and products based on most promising commercial applications of our
satellite observations, but necessarily some time data. The role of public-private partnerships in
must pass before one can say with any likelihood building public services, such as FEWS, has been
that a station is indeed not reporting properly. acknowledged for some time and service-level
About three years ago, it became clear that agreements would be a simple way to join forces.
we were somewhat over-stretched and that it Fintech and crop insurance have a deep need for
was difficult to maintain the number of stations in-situ weather data for climate de-risking and,
that we had. We saw a downward trend in given our cost-effectiveness, may very well cover
completeness of the data. A program was started maintenance costs in rural areas. Finally,
to analyze the logistics, failing mechanisms hydropower reservoirs in Africa would be able
and possibilities for improved maintenance by to reduce spilling through timely hydrological
hosts. New projects now aim more at network forecasts. By 2026, we expect 20% of our income
maintenance and less at expansion and we are to come from subscriptions in these three sectors,
seeing an upward trend, with the number of so partnerships are essential.
‘golden standard stations’ increasing every month. Because most people in TAHMO have
engineering backgrounds, we are also looking
Outlook forward to technical innovations, mainly in the
Although TAHMO has been successful in the fields of river level and discharge measurements.
acquisition of projects and building an extensive In a way, the ‘H’ in TAHMO has been somewhat
network of partners, we see the need to innovate underserved and we have mainly been using
further, both technically and financially. From a off-the-shelf solutions that are not always
financial point of view, subscription-based cost-effective, especially in terms of total cost of
TAHMO engineer
income will be needed to supplement ownership and local human resources. In Ghana
Honoré Cyuzuzo at project income. The simple fact that and Zambia, we work with industrial partners
the TAHMO station stations must be maintained after a project GReD, SEBA, Rainbow Sensing and Photrack on
installed at Météo is finished necessitates this development. camera- and GNSS-based river observations that
Rwanda, Kigali Based on our experience – especially will drastically reduce total costs and ensure
from projects funded by European Union sustainable local embedding.
grants, such as from the TWIGA and TAHMO started out with the somewhat
simplistic ambition to build a network of 20,000
weather stations in Africa, a density comparable

An advanced data management system, to that of Europe. After 10 years of cooperation,

projects and interactions with many types of
stakeholders, our ambition is now more nuanced.
which includes quality control, maintenance We want to do all we can to ensure that Africa’s
weather, water and climate are monitored and

apps and asset management software, has

that information creates value in society.
Sometimes this will ask for our technical
solutions, sometimes for simply sharing our

helped keep our operational costs low” experience to strengthen companies and
government agencies. z

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 35

Collaborative infrastructure
Sarah Puschmann, science writer, EUMETSAT

TEAM WORK
THE EWC IN ACTION:
AIDING CLIMATE
STUDIES

G R
esearchers from the Laboratory of Space,
Geophysics and Oceanographic Studies
(LEGOS), based at the Midi-Pyrénées
The European iven the vast quantity of available
meteorological data, the accuracy
Observatory in Toulouse, France, use the
EWC to access data from Meteosat satellites
Weather Cloud, of current models and methods and quickly and easily. Looking to better
recent technological advances in
jointly developed computing infrastructure, the 2020s
understand the climate in the tropics, LEGOS
researchers use the data to study mesoscale
by EUMETSAT can be considered a golden age of meteorology. convective systems – collections of storms that
contribute to extreme precipitation in the tropics.
However, the discoverability, volume and
and ECMWF, is complexity of weather and climate data pose Without a cloud computing platform, it would have
taken LEGOS researchers months to download the
using cloud increasing challenges for those who want to
develop better applications for using this data,
Meteosat climate data records stored at EUMETSAT,
which span more than 40 years. Furthermore,
infrastructure to for example to protect society from impending processing and storing the data would have required
natural hazards. The European Weather Cloud
boost collaboration (EWC) has been established to enable users of
far more computing facilities and capacity than they
had available. Using the EWC, LEGOS researchers can
in the weather and climate and weather data to surmount these access a large quantity of data directly, without the
obstacles. It facilitates collaboration in Europe need to download, process or store it themselves,
climate domain among scientists, developers and others, enabling enabling the scientists to carry out studies that
people to work together on large, complex include a research collaboration with EUMETSAT
to gain deeper insight into climate processes.
meteorological data sets free from the constraints
of their local computing infrastructure.

36 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Collaborative infrastructure

THE EWC IN ACTION:

CENTRAL CREATION
OF A SET OF What is the European Weather Cloud?
SATELLITE IMAGES It is a joint initiative between EUMETSAT and
the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather

T
Forecasts (ECMWF) that enables the member
he national meteorological and hydrological and cooperating states of both organizations to
services in Iceland, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and
develop better applications based on their
Lithuania, which together form the Nordsat combined data holdings.
collaboration, use the EWC to centrally In technical terms, the EWC provides an
generate advanced satellite image products Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) where tenants
they can all access. are provided with a working environment to
Before the EWC, each country needed to expend develop and host their applications, which can be
resources transferring EUMETSAT satellite data and used to access data from both EUMETSAT and
then creating images using local infrastructure. Now, the ECMWF. This service is accompanied by
using the EWC, they have the option to collaborate to community tools, including a repository for jointly
create one set of satellite-derived products that they
can all use and access directly.
developed solutions, templates and models that
can easily be deployed in the infrastructure. The
EWC also includes a discussion platform where
users can receive guidance, share best practice
and exchange experiences.

How does it work?

The ECMWF, a world leader in global numerical
weather prediction, has a cloud stack that sits on
top of its model output, which makes it efficient
for users to access and process its data. We at
EUMETSAT have a similar cloud stack on top of
our satellite data holding, containing decades
of satellite data, which enables people to access
Martin Raspaud, SMHI, CC BY 4.0

our data in the cloud.

What’s great for users of the EWC is that
the integrated computing infrastructure makes
it possible for them to access data and use
processing power from both the ECMWF
and EUMETSAT for their activities.

Who is the European Weather Cloud for?

The EWC is mainly for publicly funded
organizations in EUMETSAT and ECMWF’s

The EWC provides an Infrastructure as

member and cooperating states. More specifically,
it is for those with the official duty to protect life
and property from impending meteorological

a Service (IaaS) where tenants are provided hazards. We also use the EWC infrastructure for
activities involving our distributed network of
Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs), and for
with a working environment to develop and educating people through dedicated training
activities. Furthermore, people can also be

host their applications” ABOVE: The EWC makes it

granted access through EUMETSAT’s annual
research and development calls and ECMWF’s
calls for special projects.
Joachim Saalmüller, head of user support and climate services, EUMETSAT
possible to process data into
images in the cloud. Users can How does the European Weather Cloud
Joachim Saalmüller, head of user support visualize weather patterns, such foster collaboration?
as those seen here, collected by
and climate services at EUMETSAT, spoke with It removes the biggest entry barriers people have
the Flexible Combined Imager
Sarah Puschmann, a EUMETSAT science writer, on board Meteosat Third
in creating weather or climate applications,
to discuss how the EWC works, how it enables Generation – Imager 1, without enabling them to just invite their collaborators
and facilitates collaboration, and some of the downloading any data locally into a joint environment close to the data,
challenges and opportunities ahead. independent of where people are located.

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 37

Collaborative infrastructure

THE EWC IN ACTION:

We have a great team of EMERGENCY RESPONSE
technical and scientific experts
I
n March 2020, an earthquake severely damaged
the headquarters of the Croatian Meteorological
and Hydrological Service (DHMZ). There were no

from both organizations who casualties and the IT infrastructure remained

intact, but there was severe damage to the
building hosting it. Despite the emergency, and

are supporting the European with no previous preparation, a backup system was
established on the EWC within days. Copies of the
services that DHMZ was running were able to be
Weather Cloud” deployed, running in parallel, providing reassurance
in case of further deterioration of the building and
associated infrastructure.
Joachim Saalmüller, head of user support and climate services, EUMETSAT
In 2021, DHMZ moved its offices and data center to
new premises. During this move, the backup running
on the EWC and ECMWF’s high-performance computer
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities became operational, ensuring that DHMZ was able to
in running a cloud-based capability? provide an uninterrupted service to its users.
The main challenge is to continue to ensure that
we offer an increasing number of useful tools to
keep the platform attractive to the community we
serve. That being said, best serving our limited
user community means selecting a limited set of In addition, anyone who would like to find
new services that meet their greatest needs. So, out more about the European Weather Cloud
we regularly update a development roadmap in is welcome to attend the EUMETSAT
order to keep the EWC up to date with the Meteorological Satellite Conference from
evolving development objectives of our member September 30 to October 4, 2024, in Würzburg,
states. Together with the ECMWF, we review new Germany. This is a great opportunity for people
tools and pool our resources to develop them. to connect with members of the meteorological
Thankfully, we have a great team of technical and community and exchange ideas and information
scientific experts from both organizations who about the European Weather Cloud as well as
are supporting the European Weather Cloud, as other cloud platforms. z
well as industrial support.
In terms of the opportunities, we discuss
emerging themes, topics and use cases with our EUMETSAT
member states. In general, we try to maximize the To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
benefits of the technology for various projects we www.europeanweather.cloud
undertake with member states that require such
capabilities. The evolution of our Satellite
Application Facilities and their emerging needs is
one key area in that context. Capacity-building
projects is another. Last, but certainly not least,
using cloud-based solutions for collective learning
with our member states in the machine learning
age will be a key theme of future evolutions.

How can someone get access to the

European Weather Cloud?
EUMETSAT and ECMWF member and
cooperating states as well as EUMETSAT Satellite
Application Facilities have their own allocations
on the EWC. Eligible researchers are also welcome
to apply for an allocation by responding to our
annual research and development call, which
opened in March and closes in June. This is an
opportunity to propose a scientific or technical
study of interest to the general
scientific community and of The Croatian Meteorological and
benefit to EUMETSAT member Hydrological Service (DHMZ)
states. At ECMWF, special was able to establish a backup system
project proposals offer a using the EWC after a March 2020
similar opportunity. earthquake damaged its offices ECMWF, CC BY 4.0

38 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Standalone Hydrological Station:
LX-80 radar level sensor
RSS-2-300 W surface velocity radar
HydroCam for visual site inspection
HydroTemp water temperature probe
SmartObserver datalogger with
integrated MPPT battery charger and
GPRS/3G/4G/NB-IoT connectivity
SDI-12 and Modbus communication
support for 3rd party sensor integration
Connects to HydroView cloud-based
hydrological data management and
analysis software
*Sensors also sold separately

Water Level Surface Total Water

Velocity Discharge Temperature

Experts in contactless hydrology measurements

www.geolux-radars.com
Atmosphere-ocean modeling

INDUSTRY
John McHenry, chief scientist, Baron Weather, and Joe Zambon PhD, VP of research and development, Fathom Science

first
Baron Weather discusses its work in Indonesia on the development,
deployment and validation of a three-way-coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave
model – the largest high-resolution regional implementation currently available

T
FIGURE 1: The InaCAWO
forecast domain is shown as
700mb Relative Humidity (%) InaCAWO portrayed by an operational INIT: 2024-02-21, 06UTC
Max: 100.1 /Min 0.0 InaCAWO-WRF 700mb VALID: 2024-02-22, 21UTC (F39)
he atmosphere-ocean interface is one relative humidity forecast valid 100
of the most complex and challenging on February 22, 2024 at 21UTC
95
environments to accurately predict. At
10°N 90
this interface, both lower atmospheric
85
and upper oceanic/surface ocean
80
waves affect the planning and execution of 5°N
maritime activities such as fishing, shipping 75

and passenger ferries. Although marshaling 70

0° 65
and mobilizing the data and parameters is
formidable, the rewards are great. Doing so can 60
create a system that provides unprecedented 55
5°S
accuracy when forecasting the atmosphere 50
above the ocean’s surface, waves at the surface 45
and ocean currents, leading to a more effective 10°S 40
early warning system to alert citizens about 35
dangerous weather at sea or on the coastline, and 15°S 30
ultimately increase sustainability by proactively 90°E 95°E 100°E 105°E 110°E 115°E 120°E 125°E 130°E 135°E 140°E
protecting lives and property in island nations.
Nothing could be more representative than
the Indonesian archipelago, which has more than
17,000 islands, each depending on shipping and/or
aviation to enable economic/social connections FIGURE 2: Atmospheric–
ocean interface coupling
and to obtain life-sustaining resources. in the BMKG InaCAWO
The job of the Indonesian National modeling system
Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (Badan
Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika [BMKG])
is to provide official and accurate metocean
forecasts, alerts and warnings within this
enormously complicated region. The agency has
chosen CLS and its partner, Baron Weather, to
assist it by developing and deploying tailored
numerical weather prediction (NWP) and
hydrological forecast decision support systems.
Baron’s innovative metocean model is now
Fathom Science, Inc

and
deployed operationally at BMKG as part of the
agency’s Maritime Meteorological System (MMS)
program. The joint development efforts between
Baron and BMKG’s expert team, under the
leadership of the director of the Center for Public

40 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Atmosphere-ocean modeling

made the InaCAWO operationally feasible

on-site at BMKG headquarters.

Validation against observations

The model was validated following a design study
approved by BMKG. The validation data, collected
over a year, was made possible by the collaboration
between the agency, CLS and Sibakom using
MAWS observations, drifter-based ocean-current
speed, drifter-based sea surface temperatures
(SSTs), satellite-derived significant wave heights
and tide gauges. Baron ran three-day re-forecast
runs (as if in real time) for the period September 1,
2021, to August 31, 2022. The validation occurred
at three time horizons (forecast days one, two and
three), clustering observations into Indonesian
subclimate zones. On a global basis, InaCAWO
validates to a combined aggregate accuracy of
FIGURE 3: Meteosat-9 image 86.14%, which is well above the 80% threshold
of tropical cyclone Anggrek near
Weather Services, Dr Andri Ramdhani, has led mark expected by the agency.
the Cocos Islands, southeast of
to this success. The model is already upgrading Jakarta, Indonesia, valid 12UTC,
the timeliness and reliability of BMKG’s January 18, 2024. At that time, the Operational design
environmental forecasts. This comprehensive cyclone was moving quite slowly InaCAWO provides four forecast cycles per day on
endeavor includes advances in modeling the HPC at BMKG. The 00UTC and 12UTC runs
technology, such as parameterizations, execute with a 10-day forecast horizon, while the
configuration and model validation. off-cycle (06UTC, 18UTC) runs provide a 90-hour
forecast horizon. Since the timing/availability of
Modeling system and computational requirements global model data for ingest is critical to the
Over the past two years, the team, together with overall workflow, it has been found that these
partners at Fathom Science, based at North forecast lengths fit well on the HPC resources
Carolina State University, has operationally while meeting forecaster needs for frequent, albeit
deployed and validated the Indonesian deterministic, model forecast updates.
Coupled-Atmosphere-Ocean (InaCAWO) Each of the three regional models comprising
modeling system on BMKG premises in Jakarta. InaCAWO must have its own initial and boundary
Along with a model coupling toolkit (MCT), conditions (IC/BCs) and, like all regional models,
the InaCAWO consists of three advanced these must be obtained from ‘host’ global models.
‘single-media’ modeling systems configured to For the primary (00UTC, 12UTC) cycles, IC/BCs
communicate with each other. The Weather for InaCAWO-WRF are obtained from the
FIGURE 4: InaCAWO-ROMS
Research and Forecasting Model (WRF), the forecast of ocean ‘potential’
ECMWF IFS; IC/BCs for InaCAWO-SWAN are
Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and temperature – i.e. sea surface obtained from the ECMWF IFS Wave model; and
the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model temperature – shows the the MERCATOR global ocean model provides the
are all deployed on a standard 3km spatial grid forecast impact of tropical IC/BCs for InaCAWO-ROMS. For the off-cycle
depicted in Figure 1. cyclone sea surface temperatures runs, InaCAWO-WRF is currently being driven
Together, they forecast the weather, waves and cooling, resulting from the by the GFS, although a switch to ECMWF IFS
ocean conditions simultaneously. The WRF is developing Anggrek cyclone off-cycle runs is planned.
implemented with 48 atmospheric layers, ROMS
with 70 ocean layers and SWAN with 36 spectral
bins. Fluxes at the metocean interface are passed
between all three models in parallel through the
MCT, as shown in Figure 2.
This novel feature enables InaCAWO to
represent the exchange of heat, moisture and
momentum at the atmosphere-ocean interface in
a thoroughly conservative manner, as in nature.
The computational requirements are severe.
Baron’s testing showed that the optimal
performance was gained by running on
approximately 8,500 AMD EPYC cores, resulting
in a 10-day forecast run taking on average less
than three hours of wall-clock time to complete.
The crucial advance was achieved through the
partnership of Baron, CLS France and PT Sibakom
Indonesia to set up an HPC system comprising
more than 33,000 cores. This infrastructure has

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 41

Atmosphere-ocean modeling

FIGURE 5: InaCAWO-SWAN
significant wave height. The forecast
impact of the TS on oceanic waves is
only possible with a tightly coupled
three-way modeling system such as
InaCAWO, where both atmospheric
winds and oceanic heat contents are
fully consistent with the SWH forecast

As the InaCAWO-WRF can be/is driven by

two different sources for global model inputs,
the other two models also have backup global
model options – for InaCAWO-ROMS, the backup
used is the US Navy HYCOM global model. For
InaCAWO-SWAN, it is the US NOAA GFS-Wave
global model based on Wavewatch III. Model
spin-up is also important, especially in the ocean,
so that InaCAWO-ROMS and InaCAWO-SWAN
are both spun-up for three days using six-hourly
meteorological analysis forcing data before the
coupled model forecast launch. Model outputs are
generated via web pages and other visualization
systems, including time series, thermodynamic
diagrams and many other prognostically
animating forecast fields.

Forecast examples
Several illustrative examples from a recent
InaCAWO forecast issued on January 16, 2024,
at 00Z, valid at 18UTC on January 17, 2024, are FIGURE 6: Zoomed-in view of
shown in the following figures. On that and forecast oceanic currents at the
during previous days, tropical cyclone Anggrek island scale. Note the presence of
three current ‘jets’ near/adjacent to
was developing southeast of Jakarta. By 18UTC on zoomed-in views, with a focus on the dangerous
Denpasar. Never before have such
January 17, Anggrek was forecast to be centered forecast jets (current speeds at/
maritime conditions (unrelated to Anggrek) that
near the Cocos Islands, as shown in the lower above 10km/hr) been available with often form in the channels along the island chain
left-hand corner of Figure 3. Figure 4 presents the such detail to maritime forecasters to the east of the main island of Java.
InaCAWO-ROMS ocean temperature forecast, in in this region
which the cooling effect of Anggrek on SSTs is Conclusion
obvious. While surrounding ocean temperatures The MMS program at BMKG is designed for
are in the 80s, forecast ocean temperatures within long-term sustainability. In the first phase, the
the storm’s core are >10°F cooler. Figure 5 presents FIGURE 7: Forecast peak wave InaCAWO model has been developed, validated
the simultaneous significant wave height (SWH) period, same zoomed-in view as and deployed operationally as the largest
forecast, whereby the most dangerous waves are in Figure 6. Here, waves in the high-resolution regional implementation of a
channels where the jet currents
forecast to occur on the eastern flank of the storm three-way-coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave
flow southward are migrating with
(at that time). Finally, Figures 6 and 7 show long wave lengths northward,
model currently available. In keeping with Baron’s
presenting a significant danger to focus on customer support and training, the
maritime operations attempting Baron team, together with CLS and Sibakom, has
to cross the straights provided several informative training sessions to
build competency among the already excellent
staff at BMKG. In the second phase, it is expected
that (1) data assimilation, (2) ensembles and (3)
local grid refinements will be implemented to
provide additional skills. This is planned to
enhance the capabilities of the agency to deliver
reliable forecast information to the public and
many other stakeholders within this very complex
archipelago. Full references and additional details
are available from the authors. z

Baron Weather
To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
www.baronweather.com

42 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 EURO1k
ACCURACY REDEFINED

High-Resolution European Weather

Model for Precise Forecasts
1 km resolution, 48-hour forecast lead time, hourly updates, Europe-wide
coverage

EURO1k's unique 1k resolution delivers finely detailed datasets, meeting the

specific needs of diverse industries throughout Europe.
Improve your operational planning and extreme weather response with
the most precise weather forecasts. meteomatics.com
Localized flood forecasting

ACT
Neil I Fox, Christopher A Steward and Noel Aloysius, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri

local hydrological prediction using data from

the MZZU X-band dual-polarization
weather radar (Figure 1) as input into
a hydrological model of the Hinkson
Creek, which runs through the city of
Columbia, Missouri.
The Hinkson Creek catchment (shown
A dual-polarization X-band in Figure 2) has an area of 228km2 and
falls about 140m in elevation from the
radar supplied by EWR headwaters in the northwest to the more
Radar Systems is helping urbanized area in the southwest. The
landscape is evenly divided between
researchers in Missouri pasture and cropland, forest and urban
better monitor intense rainfall cover, making it an interesting and
complex watershed to study. The radar,
in the Hinkson Creek an E800 dual-polarization X-band radar
supplied by EWR Radar Systems, is

T
situated just outside the southeast
corner of the watershed.
Rainfall fields from the MZZU
radar are quality controlled using
in-house processing that exploits the
he need to forecast streamflow and dual-polarization measurements to
flooding has been a driver in the provide corrections for range and
development of weather radar for attenuation. Rainfall rates derived
decades. Radar has the ability to from three variations of the processing
estimate rainfall amounts over algorithm of the MZZU data were used
wide areas at regular, short intervals of as input to the Soil Water Assessment
time, and this makes it an attractive tool Tool (SWAT) hydrological model of
for hydrologists who want to improve ABOVE: Figure 1: The MZZU radar the catchment. This model allows
predictions of streamflow and floods. BELOW: Figure 4: Hydrograph with rainfall amounts to be entered for
However, the ability of hydrological SWAT model output for the Hinkson each of 30 subcatchments, making the
models to effectively use rainfall data from Creek flood of June 25, 2021. The graph representation of small pockets of heavy
radars depends on the quality of that data. shows simulated flow using data from rain valuable to the model’s operation.
Furthermore, for small catchments, the rain gauges (orange line), MRMS (green For comparison, inputs from
proximity of the radar can be paramount. line), and three MZZU radar rainfall quantitative precipitation estimates
algorithms (red, purple and brown lines),
The closer a radar is to the catchment in (QPE) from the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor
as well as the Hinkson USGS stream
question, the higher the spatial resolution gauge observation (dashed blue line)
(MRMS) system operated by the National
of the data and the closer the 250
radar beam is to the surface. Hinkson gauge
The lower beam altitude Gauge four-hourly
MRMS
helps reduce errors caused by
200 MZZU Rp1 (KDP, D)
changes in the precipitation MZZU Rp2 (KDP, D)
as it falls from aloft. In MZZU Rp3 (KDP, D)
theory, a small locally sited
Flow values

radar should be able to do 150

better than a larger, more
distant one when it comes
to hydrological applications. 100

Studying the Hinkson

Creek watershed
To test this theory, a research 50

team at the University of

Missouri set out to
investigate the effectiveness 23 24 25 26
of a small gap-filling radar on June 2021
Month and year

44 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Localized flood forecasting

EWR Radar Systems

To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
www.ewradar.com

Although the MZZU-based model streamflow

does not always outperform the streamflow
forecasts produced using other sources of rainfall
data, it is seen to have greater success in the
most critical cases that involve intense localized
rainfall that can lead to flash flooding.
The ability of the radar to accurately locate
and quantify the most intense rain at high spatial
resolution and frequency demonstrates its
potential to help hydrological forecasts in small
catchments that are poorly served by larger radar
Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL) were also and rain gauge networks. z
used to drive the hydrological model. MRMS ABOVE: Figure 2: Hydrological
can be considered as a state-of-the-art rainfall boundary of the Hinkson Creek 200

monitoring system for the US, as it uses a watershed with basic land use
classification. The digital elevation
combination of National Weather Service radar
model projection outlines the
and rain gauge data processed to a high standard. boundary of the watershed from 180
However, the base radar data used by MRMS higher elevation (red) to lower
in this area of central Missouri is taken from elevation (green) in meters
the closest National Weather Service radars in
St Louis and Kansas City, each of which is more BELOW: Figure 3a (top): Rainfall 160
accumulation for June 25, 2021,
than 100km from the catchment area.
from the MZZU radar. Figure 3b
A comparison of rainfall accumulations for

Precipitation (mm)
(bottom): Rainfall accumulation
a significant rainfall and flood event on June 25, for June 25, 2021, from MRMS 140
2021, illustrated in Figure 3, reveals that the
MZZU radar can capture higher spatial resolution
data than the MRMS product and this, in turn,
120
leads to the identification of small areas
of more intense rainfall. Sanborn
In addition to the MRMS and MZZU rainfall Capen Park
estimates, observations from four traditional rain 100
gauges in and around the catchment were used Jefferson Farm
Bradford Farm
as a baseline comparison for the hydrological
model response. Therefore, five different rainfall 80
accumulation fields were entered into the
hydrological model and the resulting flow was 200

assessed against that recorded by a United States

Geological Survey (USGS) flow gauge.
180
Key findings
It was found that under most circumstances there
Latitude of grid cell center [degree_N]

was little difference in the ability of the model to

160
replicate the observed streamflow when using any
Total rain accumulation (mm)
of the sources of rainfall observation. However,
in cases of heavy rain that led to excessive
streamflow, the model runs that used data 140
from the MZZU radar performed the best.
Figure 4 shows an example hydrograph from
a five-day period in June 2021 during which
120
significant flooding occurred along the Hinkson
Creek on June 24 and 25. Here it can be seen that Sanborn
the discharge calculated by the hydrological Capen Park
model using both the rain gauge (orange line) and 38.910
100
the MRMS data (green line) underestimates the Jefferson Farm
Bradford Farm
observed discharge (dashed blue line). However,
the discharge generated by the model when using 80
the MZZU radar data closely matches that seen -92.265
by the USGS stream gauge. Longitude of grid cell center [degree_E]

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 45

Weather drones
Dr Akemi Narindal-Aoki, senior content manager, Meteomatics

Meteodrones fly in a straight

line for up to 6km, capturing
true vertical profiles, while
radiosondes carried by
weather balloons drift
with the wind

REPLACING radiosondes

Advanced weather
forecasting
technology company
Meteomatics is
filling the data gap
in the lower layers
R adiosondes are small, lightweight
instruments attached to weather
balloons. They measure various
atmospheric parameters, including
temperature, humidity, pressure and
wind speed and direction, in the lower layers of
the atmosphere. Meteorologists have relied on
radiosondes for weather observations and data
collection since the early 20th century. By tracking
the radiosonde’s ascent, meteorologists can
of the atmosphere obtain a vertical profile of the atmosphere, which
is crucial for weather forecasting, atmospheric
using its proprietary research and climate studies.
weather drones, For many years, despite some drawbacks such altitudes of 6km. They can fly vertically in a
as limited maneuverability, short operational controlled manner and conduct regular flights
offering a superior duration, high cost and environmental harm, the in any location, capturing data on atmospheric
alternative to weather industry has regarded radiosondes as the
gold standard for observations of the boundary
conditions in the boundary layer. A comparison
of profiles obtained from radiosondes and
traditional layer. Swiss company Meteomatics is now Meteodrone flights reveals that data collected
entering the market with a more reliable, from Meteodrones is just as reliable as that
radiosondes cost-effective and sustainable alternative. from radiosondes, supporting the feasibility
Meteomatics’ weather drones, known as of replacing radiosondes with Meteodrones
Meteodrones, have been engineered to reach in the near future.

46 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Weather drones

Meteodrones offer
a significant advantage
in data collection with
their ability to conduct
multiple daily flights
in targeted areas, at
30-minute intervals”

6km
The altitude Meteomatics’
National meteorological services are
considering adopting Meteodrones as a
long-term substitute for radiosondes.
Furthermore, a consortium of partners from
various European countries, collaborating on
intervals. This controlled approach to data
collection ensures more comprehensive and
reliable data collection over time.
A comparison of profiles from Meteodrones
and radiosondes was carried out at the
Meteodrones have been the Meteorological Assimilation from Galileo MeteoSwiss technical center in Payerne in
engineered to reach and Drones for Agriculture (MAGDA) project, Switzerland, where Meteomatics routinely
will use Meteodrones to enhance weather undertook up to eight flights per night using
forecasting capabilities and improve Meteodrones to collect data, which was then
operational efficiency in the agricultural integrated into the Meteomatics EURO1k
sector. In the US, the Grand Sky aviation park weather model to enhance weather forecasts. The
in North Dakota has partnered measurements for this study were
BELOW: Figure 1 showing with Meteomatics to install a collected between November 1,
the Meteodrone and Meteodrones can be
Meteodrone system at Grand Forks 2022, and April 30, 2023. The
radiosonde temperature operated by a pilot
Air Force Base. This system aims on-site or from many
analysis compared the
and wind speed profiles to detect weather phenomena that kilometers away thanks
directly affect flight to the ground station,
decision making, the Meteobase
safety measures and
scheduling.

Data reliability
Radiosondes, tethered to weather
balloons, are susceptible to wind
drift, which can lead to deviations
in the data collected. In contrast,
Meteodrones possess the
capability of vertical flight,
enabling them to navigate the
atmosphere more precisely and measurements of radiosondes and Meteodrones
capture accurate vertical profiles that were launched with a maximum 30-minute
unaffected by wind drift. time interval. Weather balloons are typically
Furthermore, radiosondes launched at 23:00 UTC, and the Meteodrone
typically gather data for a limited flights used for comparison were conducted
duration during their ascent, within a 30-minute window around that time.
and in an uncontrolled manner. For each profile, the differences between the
Meteodrones, on the other hand, Meteodrone profile and radiosonde profile were
offer a significant advantage in calculated for temperature and wind speed at all
data collection with their ability altitude levels. The mean, minimum, maximum
to conduct multiple daily flights and standard deviation of these differences were
in targeted areas, at 30-minute computed at each height by averaging all the

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 47

Weather drones

linked profiles during the specified time period. replacements and lowering overall production
In Figure 1, the dark blue line shows the mean and launch expenses. Moreover, the elimination
difference between the Meteodrone and of helium dependency reduces operational costs
radiosonde profiles; the shading shows the mean associated with gas procurement and inflation.
plus and minus the standard deviation. The red
dashed line highlights zero. Sustainability
The dark blue line comes remarkably close to Weather balloons carrying radiosondes are
zero, which is indicative of an excellent result. typically made of latex or synthetic materials.
Because of differences in the actual times and When they land in natural environments after
locations of the observations made by the their missions, they can pose risks to wildlife and
radiosonde and the Meteodrone in each linked ecosystems. The non-biodegradable nature of
profile, a difference of zero for an entire profile The Meteodrone these materials means they may persist in the
is extremely unlikely. The average absolute environment for extended periods, contributing
difference in temperature is a mere 0.4°C can withstand to pollution and potentially harming wildlife.
– an impressive result, especially considering temperatures of The electronic components and batteries within

-45°C
the natural variability and measurement radiosondes can exacerbate environmental
uncertainties inherent in atmospheric conditions. concerns due to their potential for heavy metal
Likewise, for wind speed, the mean absolute contamination and electronic waste.
difference (MAD) is only 1m/s. In contrast, Meteodrones, being controlled
by remote pilots, offer a more environmentally
Resource availability friendly alternative. Their controlled flight paths
Another factor influencing data reliability is the and ability to return to designated landing sites
availability of resources. Helium shortages in reduce the risk of unintentional landings in
the past have affected the cost and availability sensitive natural areas. Moreover, the materials
of helium-filled weather balloons, and thus the used in the construction of Meteodrones are often
frequency and quality of radiosonde launches. chosen for their durability and recyclability,
Meteodrones do not rely on helium at all, minimizing their environmental impact.
mitigating concerns about supply shortages and
ensuring consistent data collection capabilities. License to operate
For Meteodrones to effectively replace
Cost-efficiency radiosondes, it’s imperative to gather atmospheric
Radiosondes are single-use devices, meaning they data during the day and at night, considering that
are capable of collecting data for only one mission radiosondes are traditionally launched twice a
before being discarded. This not only incurs high day. Meteodrone flights are made possible thanks
production costs but also adds up in terms of to special flight authorization from the Swiss
launch expenses for each individual radiosonde. Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), which
Meteodrones can fly
Furthermore, the need for helium-filled weather covers Switzerland and the principality of
through clouds and
balloons contributes to the overall cost of endure windy and
Liechtenstein. This permit enables Meteomatics
radiosonde launches. icy conditions to obtain cross-border flight authorization
In contrast, although Meteodrones do have more easily, allowing it to operate
initial production costs and operational expenses, Meteodrones throughout the day and
they offer significant cost savings in the long run. night in all member states of the European
They can be reused for multiple missions over Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
several years, reducing the need for frequent
Meteorological leap
Meteodrones are a viable solution to the
limitations of traditional radiosondes in
weather forecasting and atmospheric
research. With their ability to reach
altitudes of up to 6km, conduct controlled
flights and gather data more
comprehensively and reliably, they offer
a superior alternative. As Meteodrones
continue to evolve and gain acceptance
within the meteorological community,
they can revolutionize atmospheric data
collection and enhance our understanding
of weather dynamics for years to come. z

Meteomatics
To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
www.meteomatics.com

48 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Antenna Technologies,
Orbital Systems

2.4m X/L-band EOS-DB

Reception System
Tracking antenna system for
reception and processing of data
from Earth Observing — Direct
Broadcast satellites.

Satellites: TERRA, AQUA, METOP,

JPSS-1 and 2, SNPP, NOAA-POES,
FY3 and others.

Simple graphical user interface

monitors the antenna, automatically
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data.

Used by leading research and

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worldwide.
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Solid-state radars
Timo Lyly, product line manager, and Matias Hamm, product manager, weather radars, Vaisala

THE
storms and issue life-saving warnings. However,
the tube technology powering current radar
networks is ready for a modern overhaul to
keep pace with observational demands. As
the demands of modern meteorology become
increasingly complex, solid-state power
amplifiers (SSPA) have emerged as the future of
radio-frequency power generation in weather

FUTURE
radar system design.
By modernizing observation networks with
vastly improved performance, reliability and
cost-efficiency over historic radar designs,
SSPA radars enable more reliable and accurate
detection of looming threats and the issuance
of advanced warnings that can save lives.

From tube transmitters to more modern designs

For more than 50 years, weather radar
technology has relied on magnetron, klystron
and traveling-wave tubes to generate the

OF
high-power radio-frequency pulses needed to
penetrate clouds and storms. Unfortunately,
they all require complex modulator systems
to generate high peak power.

weather radars
Traditional tube technology also operates
at incredibly high voltages that require
specialized operational knowledge
and certain safety measures during
maintenance. This makes corresponding
Technology powering current radar power transmitters large and heavy,
typically filling a small room or shelter
networks is ready for a modern next to the radar antenna. The high
voltage can also lead to arcing.
overhaul, according to Vaisala, Consequently, the powerful but
with solid-state power amplifiers unstable nature of tubes can lead
to temperamental operation.
emerging as the future of radio- Complicating matters further,

E
frequency power generation in vacuum tubes such as magnetrons have
relatively short lifespans of around 50,000
weather radar system design operational hours. They must be replaced
every few years to maintain operation
and require frequent maintenance,
very year violent storms put lives and recalibration and replacement of
property at risk and have a devastating consumable parts subject to wear and tear
impact on communities. On a planet over their operating life. If a single component
where climate uncertainty contributes fails, the radar will stop collecting critical
to more – and more intense – extreme information until highly specialized
weather events, advanced warnings from weather technicians can service the system.
radar systems give people precious time to When accurate observations are critical
prepare and seek shelter. for protecting lives and essential physical
Weather radars provide a critical line of infrastructure, any downtime leading to gaps in
defense against tornadoes, hurricanes, flash weather data is untenable. Frequently replacing
floods and other hazardous conditions, helping consumable parts and undertaking specialized
safeguard lives and livelihoods against Mother maintenance of the vacuum tube transmitters
Nature’s worst impacts. Initially used following entails significant operating expenses over the
World War II just to detect the location of radar system’s lifetime.
precipitation, weather radar technology has Furthermore, traditional radar designs
evolved considerably and is now used by national situate the magnetron transmitter farther from
weather services, the aviation industry, research the antenna, incurring added costs, complexity
The compact design of SSPA
departments, universities, TV stations and many and performance penalties. Long waveguide
technology makes the radar
other organizations. system more reliable and
runs, for example, are expensive to install
For decades, weather radar manufacturers requires less maintenance over and maintain, especially in dual-polarization
have relied on traditional tube transmitter the entire system lifetime systems, and the waveguides also introduce
technology with bulky vacuum tubes to observe signal loss and attenuation.

50 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Solid-state radars

BELOW: Modern SSPA radars achieve greater

sensitivity for advanced early warning capabilities

RIGHT: Transmitter redundancy: a single component

failure will not stop weather radar operation

Since traditional tube-based transmitters

constrain operational reliability and data continuity
while inflating lifetime costs, solid-state technology
aims to overcome these limitations, bringing
weather radar into the 21st century.

Advantages of SSPA for weather radar

Instead of unstable tubes, SSPA radars use robust
gallium nitride (GaN) transistors that offer
unparalleled reliability and performance. Solid-
state technology as a power amplifier is not new:
satellites, telecommunication, microwave links,
military radars and other applications have
harnessed it for years. However, high-power
components at high frequencies have previously
been unavailable for weather observation
applications at affordable prices. Fortunately,
advances in GaN transistor technology expanded
the power and frequency range of semiconductors,
making cost-effective GaN components broadly
available. GaN transistors on silicon carbide (SiC)
substrate can now achieve high power densities.
At the core of SSPA systems are GaN
semiconductor transistors, which have lifetimes of
over one million operational hours, giving the SSPA
amplifiers much greater lifespan than magnetron
tubes. This exceptional longevity stems from the
innate stability and durability of solid-state
electronics. SSPA use a much lower peak power
than tube technology, improving the reliability of
weather radar systems. Lower peak power enables
simpler, cost-effective weather radar design with
several benefits, including less stress on the
sensitive receiver front end during the transmit
pulse. SSPA also enable the use of semiconductor
limiters without radioactive discharge tube
technology, delivering an easier and more reliable
design of waveguide parts without a risk of arcing.
Unlike tubes, there are no consumable
components to replace in the GaN amplifiers. SSPA
technology enables a more modern system design
where the active components are at the back of the
antenna. This makes the radar system more reliable

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 51

Solid-state radars

and low maintenance over the entire system

lifetime. With SSPA radars, installing the
transmitter and receiver behind the antenna
is possible, and specific components, such
as expensive waveguide rotary joints and
site-specific long waveguides, are unnecessary. By
enabling more efficient weather radar design with
better performance, SSPA radars achieve greater
sensitivity at significantly lower operational costs
over their lifetime.
Furthermore, SSPA systems incorporate
built-in redundancy to prevent single-point
failures. With independent transmitters for
horizontal and vertical channels, the system can
operate in single-polarization mode in case a fault
With long-lasting amplifiers, SSPA
emerges in one of the channels. Each transmitter
contains several parallel amplifier modules
radars provide continuous, uninterrupted
producing pulsed power, and each module
contains several parallel GaN transistors in the
final amplification phase of the signal, adding
data availability”
yet another level of redundancy in case one of
the transistors fails. grid power by deploying a solar-powered C-band
With long-lasting amplifiers, SSPA radars ABOVE: Ethiopia’s new weather radar system. The arid climate and complex
provide continuous, uninterrupted data radar network with solar energy topography make establishing consistent
availability. Solid-state electronics also enable in action electrical infrastructure difficult in remote areas
unique runtime calibration. A sample of the of Ethiopia. Power outages are common, which
transmit pulse is coupled to the receiver so the poses a challenge for operating radar systems that
outgoing signals can be constantly measured, for require reliable energy. To address this challenge,
continuous pulse-to-pulse calibration and near Vaisala engineered a turnkey solar power solution
real-time correction for high-quality data. for the country’s new C-band radar installation
In addition to their reliability and continuity that features an array of photovoltaic panels to
advantages, SSPA radars provide significant harvest abundant sunlight and charge backup
technical benefits that enable meteorologists batteries to ensure constant uptime of the
to provide early warnings and better protect weather radar network. Even during prolonged
people and property. A key technique is pulse overcast periods, the battery system stores
compression, which maintains high resolution sufficient backup power to run the radar for
while transmitting more energy for increased up to four days without sunlight.
sensitivity. SSPA radars transmit long pulses that This innovative off-grid approach ensures
are compressed to achieve the required range that radar data is available whenever needed for
resolution, boosting the energy on targets and weather monitoring and forecasting, enhancing
enabling detection of weaker signatures such as early warning capabilities to keep communities
snow or drizzle. SSPA systems also employ hybrid across Ethiopia safe. While SSPA improve radar
pulsing, alternating between long pulses for capabilities and sustainability, thoughtful
maximum range and short pulses that cover near implementations such as solar power expand
range without gaps in coverage to maximize the where and how radar systems can provide
useful range and detail. life-saving insights.
Unleashed from the constraints of tubes, SSPA
radars are designed from a blank slate to optimize A sustainable future
all parameters. SSPA transmitters enable a more After over half a century of relying on vacuum
compact architecture, helping to minimize signal tube technology, the future of weather radars is
loss, noise and interference for better data quality. undoubtedly solid state. SSPA radar systems are
While the advantages of SSPA radars represent already commercially available and deployment
the next generation of weather observation, is rapidly increasing as meteorological services
complementary advances such as solar power are upgrade aging magnetron and klystron networks.
also expanding options for weather observation. With their proven advantages in reliability,
Energy accessibility issues can prevent radars measurement performance and lifetime costs,
from being deployed in ideal locations to fill SSPA radars are poised to become the new
coverage gaps. In remote regions, solar-powered standard worldwide. Overcoming the limitations of
radar systems provide a self-sufficient solution. tubes, SSPA radar systems deliver transformative
Vaisala benefits to forecasters and the communities they
Advancing weather radar sustainability To learn more, scan serve. Minutes matter when issuing weather
In Ethiopia’s mountainous terrain, Vaisala, a the QR code or visit: warnings, so the advantages of solid state are too
global leader in weather, environmental and www.vaisala.com significant for weather services to overlook when
industrial measurements, overcame unreliable seeking an upgrade. z

52 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

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Water management
Nikša Orlić, CEO & co-founder, Geolux

Geolux explains why a new advanced water have been met with apprehension.
Changes in water flow patterns risk
monitoring network in the Fergana Valley in Central causing shortages, jeopardizing crop
Asia represents a leap forward in sustainable water production and escalating tensions
between the two nations. Both
management and disaster risk reduction for the region nations face the challenge of

T
balancing Kyrgyzstan’s need for
energy security with Uzbekistan’s
agricultural demands.
The valley’s geography also makes
it prone to natural disasters such as
he Fergana Valley, which spans floods and landslides. Notably, in 1998 the enclave
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, is Central of Shahimardan, which is situated within the
Asia’s most densely populated region, valley and is part of Uzbekistan’s territory, was
home to 13 million people. It is a region struck by a catastrophic flood, resulting in the
of critical importance for agriculture, tragic loss of more than 100 lives. This disaster
ecological balance and the livelihoods of its was precipitated by the abrupt discharge of
inhabitants. The valley is a major producer water from a glacial lake.
of cotton, wheat, fruits and a variety of crops,
relying heavily on a network of irrigation canals, Monitoring water levels
rivers and reservoirs. In response to the pressing need for improved
Among these, the Great Fergana Canal stands water management and disaster risk reduction
out as a remarkable feat of engineering. Spanning in the Fergana Valley, in 2023 the United Nations
270km, it was constructed in 1939 by a workforce Development Programme (UNDP) launched a
of 160,000 people in just 45 days. project to establish an advanced network for
Disputes over water resources have historically monitoring water levels and river discharge. To
marred relations between Uzbekistan and achieve accurate monitoring of river discharge,
A rotating
Kyrgyzstan, stemming from their mutual reliance the project is using the innovative principle of cantilever allows
on trans-boundary rivers that originate in the surface-velocity radar for river discharge the installation of
Kyrgyz mountains before flowing into Uzbekistan. measurement, representing a cutting-edge radar sensors
Kyrgyzstan, positioned upstream, holds sway over approach to environmental monitoring. Through above the river if no
the rivers’ headwaters and this project, UNDP hopes to enhance the region’s bridge is present
has pursued hydroelectric capacity to mitigate the impacts of water-related
projects to enhance its energy disasters and support sustainable agricultural
independence, entailing dam practices, ultimately contributing to the resilience
constructions and river flow and well-being of the valley’s communities.
regulations. Downstream, In the first phase of the project, UNDP has
Uzbekistan relies strategically chosen 11 locations throughout the
on these water flows Fergana Valley to set up monitoring stations.
The Geolux
for its expansive At each site it plans to install water level radar
HydroStation,
easily installed on
agricultural sector, sensors and surface-velocity radars. The
a bridge, provides especially for surface-velocity radars are designed to measure
water level and irrigating cotton the speed of water flow at the surface. Then, the
discharge fields, so its calculation of river discharge is undertaken by

ADDRESSING
measurements neighbor’s plans combining surface-velocity measurement with

water resource challenges

54 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024
 Water management

individual site. If there was a bridge over a river,

the devices were mounted directly onto the
bridge, leveraging existing infrastructure for
stability and ease of installation. In locations
without bridges, a mast with a cantilever was
erected. The radar instruments were placed on
the cantilever directly above the water surface,
and the cabinet for the datalogger and the battery
was installed on the mast.

Visualizing the data

Geolux HydroView is a data portal software that
has been installed to receive real-time data from
each station, with measurements being conducted
and transmitted every 15 minutes. It not only
facilitates the visualization of the measured data,
providing an intuitive interface for analysis, but
also offers advanced features that enhance
operational flexibility and efficiency.
The user interface for the HydroView portal
has been localized for use in Uzbekistan by
adding translations in Uzbek and Russian.
Geolux HydroView not only displays the
measured data but also provides additional

11
features. Key among these is the capability for
remote device reconfiguration. This enables
remote adjustments to be made to the settings
of the monitoring equipment, ensuring that the
system can be adapted to changing conditions
The number of locations without the need for physical intervention at the
water level data and the measurements of channel site. For example, it is possible to remotely change
bathymetry. Additionally, each monitoring site is
the UNDP has chosen in the measurement interval or filtering parameters.
equipped with a standalone solar power supply the Fergana Valley to set Additionally, the platform supports remote
to ensure operational sustainability, and a up monitoring stations firmware updates. All these features are crucial
datalogger equipped with GPRS technology for for maintaining the reliability, accuracy and
the real-time transmission of data to central security of the data collection process over time.
servers. Specifically, for the monitoring station at
the Kuykulak site on the Maylisay River, which is Setting new standards
wider than other rivers, UNDP has required the The initiative to establish an advanced water
deployment of three surface-velocity radars across monitoring network across the Fergana Valley,
the riverbed instead of a single device, to increase Surface-velocity spearheaded by the UNDP and equipped by
the accuracy of the discharge measurement. radar make Geolux, represents a significant leap forward in
accurate discharge sustainable water management and disaster risk
monitoring possible
Equipment and installation on complex
reduction for the region. By using state-of-the-art
Geolux has been selected as the supplier for the hydrotechnical
radar technology, solar-powered solutions and
equipment needed in this UNDP project, owing structures the innovative Geolux HydroView software,
to the superior technical specifications and this project sets a new standard for real-time
cost-efficiency of its products. For water level and environmental monitoring.
flow measurement, the company has provided its The deployment of this network not only
RSS-2-300WL combined radar flow instrument; enhances the ability to manage agricultural
for data acquisition and transmission, the Geolux demands and mitigate the impacts of natural
SmartObserver datalogger was delivered. disasters but also serves as a model for
To provide the power supply for the monitoring collaborative, technology-driven approaches to
stations’ equipment, Geolux included 20W solar addressing water resource challenges, benefiting
panels paired with 30Ah lithium-ion batteries. the Fergana Valley’s environment and its
The low power requirements of the Geolux devices inhabitants for generations to come. z
are a significant advantage, enabling the use of
small solar panels. Their small size is an
advantage because it makes them less likely to Geolux
attract vandalism. To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
The equipment installation methods were www.geolux-radars.com
adapted to the specific conditions of each

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 55

AWS1600 Global Joint Test Program

JOIN
James Zog, CEO, Zoglab Microsystem

forces

into a hole with a diameter of 220mm, saving

Zoglab Microsystem reveals land space and simplifying the process.
how the AWS1600 global joint test The meteorological observations involved in
the joint test program are temperature, humidity,
program is providing accurate and air pressure, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall
and other meteorological parameters. AWS1600
valuable meteorological data for realizes the integrated observation of these
scientific research around the world parameters through modular design, using

T
fully digital sensors and digital collectors. The
high-fidelity signal transmission ensures precise
collection of observation data and the sensor
cables are connected using aviation plugs, making
the connection stable and efficient.
he AWS1600 – a six-parameter automatic The data collector and the entire station
weather station – global joint test design reserve space for the installation of
program began in 2022. It was additional modules, including real-time
inspired by the public-private video terminal systems, UV lights,
engagement (PPE) cooperation display screens and solutions for air
concept initiated by the WMO. quality, particulate matter, cloud images
Enterprises provide the instruments; and negative oxygen ions. In addition to
government organizations and observation data, the video terminal can
scientific research institutions regularly provide image data around the
undertake corresponding scientific site and during severe weather. It offers AI
research; colleges and universities weather recognition functions with image
carry out the observation evidence for the study of different weather
experiments; and the actual needs of users phenomena. The display screen can display
for meteorological observations are deeply field meteorological observation data from the
explored in the scientific experiment mode. site, making it easy to show to the public.
The aim is to achieve the win-win goal of
providing users with high-quality meteorological Stable operations
services and improving corporate meteorological Among the sites that have been completed in the
service capabilities. joint test program, the most representative ones
Zoglab Microsystem has actively promoted the are the two high-altitude sites built in China’s
AWS1600 global joint test program, conducting Kunlun Mountains. The first was deployed in
tests on a global scale and in different locations August 2022 at an altitude of 5,200m, while the
such as mountainous areas, islands and other second was deployed in October 2023 at an
remote areas with underdeveloped altitude of 5,896m.
transportation, including natural scenic areas The climate where the stations are situated is
and uninhabited areas. very cold all year round, and severe weather such
ABOVE: The AWS1600 as strong winds and heavy snowfall sometimes
About the AWS1600 six-parameter weather station occurs. The two stations have withstood the
AWS1600 features a 2.1m-high pole comprising TOP: The AWS1600 in-situ climate, with one operating stably for nearly two
seven sections of aluminum-alloy pipe. The around the world years. The observation data is transmitted back
sensor, data collector, solar panel, waterproof through the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System,
case and other components can be transported RIGHT: The various instruments providing high-value data for meteorological
separately, which reduces the overall installed on the AWS1600 research in high mountain areas.
transportation weight and improves transport FAR RIGHT: Data from one The AWS1600 six-parameter weather station
and installation convenience. The installation of of the stations in China is equipped with XWS web software to uniformly
AWS1600 only requires the pouring of cement manage the site data, which is distributed around

56 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 AWS1600 Global Joint Test Program

the world. The software is configured with

single-site, multisite, single-parameter and
multiparameter data display and other interfaces,
which is convenient to meet the different data
retrieval needs. Users can use this software to
manage sites within their authority, and read
and download real-time data of temperature,
humidity, air pressure, wind speed, wind
direction, rainfall and other factors at each site.
Image data and severe weather processes can be
regularly returned by video terminals; users can
set the data return interval according to research
needs and download historical
observation data.
Users can also operate the
software to check the operation
status of each site, the sensors,
the site name, the number of
parameters and the site’s
longitude, latitude, altitude,
construction time, continent,
country, city, district and
detailed address. The
AWS1600 is also equipped
with a GIS map data display
function, which can
combine the observation
data from each station
with the geographical
distribution, then
intuitively display the
spatial scale of meteorological
observation stations.
The AWS1600 global joint test program
has established more than 400 sites in China,
including in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Haikou. International
test sites have been established in the Solomon
Islands, Serbia, Turkey, Singapore, Thailand, the
Philippines, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the USA,
Canada and Russia. All the sites are working
stably and continue to provide accurate data
observation services for local scientific research. z

Zoglab Microsystem
To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
www.zoglab.com

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 57

Solid-state radars
Michal Najman, CEO, Meteopress

MAKING
handled as a standard computer program,
which is easy to modify and develop.
The company’s engineers have implemented
several features that make its radars stand out.
One of these is partial pulse correlation. Because
the signal processing is done in software, the
pulse compression scheme can be adjusted to
see targets in the feared solid-state radar blind
range. Therefore, Meteopress radars, despite
being solid-state, do not have the blind range

modern radar software

problem and don’t require ‘fill pulses’ to solve
the blind range.
Another feature is wi-fi packet detection and
filtering. Thanks to seeing wide raw radio data,
Meteopress uses a special technique to remove
Meteopress reveals how advanced software is wi-fi interference in C-band radars and other
making solid-state radar more reliable, accurate sources of interference. This technique includes
base stations in the S-band and neighboring
and easy to deploy, while new AI applications are radars in the X-band.
enhancing numerical weather prediction forecasts Finally, another feature that makes the
Meteopress radars stand out is the infinite
Doppler. By envisioning a sophisticated signal

R
transmission scheme, Meteopress radar can
extract velocities far surpassing the classic
range-Doppler dilemma.
Thanks to raw data being in a simple and
accessible format, the Meteopress radar is also a
adar in the 21st century must feature great tool for researchers wishing to implement
software-based solutions. Analog new groundbreaking algorithms themselves.
devices have now become tools for
hobbyists rather than professionals. Modern software architecture and languages
In modern equipment, software is the All Meteopress’s software combines only open
brain of the operation and needs to function as software and in-house technologies, making
well as the radar hardware itself. But just like in the radar system fully modifiable to meet any
the human brain, it must play multiple roles at requirement. The modern technological stack,
the same time. comprising Python and C++ for data processing,
a JavaScript UI interface and a WebGL
Software-based radar visualization layer, unlocks possibilities for rich
At the beginning of the radar chain, there is signal data analysis; open programming interfaces
generation. Unlike the old-fashioned tube-based offer unlimited possibilities for customers and
radars, such as magnetrons, the signal is external developers.
generated in a standard PC as a piece of code. The software deployment options are
The signal is called a chirp and if it were played extremely versatile, ranging from an installable
live on speakers, it really would sound like a bird desktop application and a remote web-based
chirping. This is when artificial intelligence comes service to a public viewer or closed, highly
in for the first time. secure systems. An interactive map-based
The Meteopress AI team has fine-tuned the environment or true live sweep data connected
signal using advanced machine learning via real-time web sockets enable the observation
techniques and optimized it for the given piece of of data measurements with only a fraction of
equipment and deployment location. The shape a second delay.
of the chirp affects the sensitivity, resolution and
TOP: RhoHV dual polarization sidelobes. The company tailors different chirps
data displayed in Meteopress to different situations, such as very precise and
SMRT software sensitive clean-air scanning or the high-resolution
ABOVE: Live reflectivity radar
scanning of convective events. This is how
data in SMRT software Meteopress has overcome the supposed
drawbacks of solid-state radars, such as range
sidelobes and low sensitivity.
Instead of using the traditional
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
Meteopress radars use a data acquisition card
(A/D converter), which sends raw radio data to
the computer. The processing of this data is then

58 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Solid-state radars

Meteopress Detecting malfunctions

Knowing the status of equipment at any given
the number of users by licenses. Also, through its
software, customers can access the live I/Q data,

radars are known

moment is key for uninterrupted operations record and store it on the radar, download it to
and full customer satisfaction. Meteopress’s a system and replay it with different signal
radars are monitored live at every stage of the processing settings, making reanalysis possible.

for their rapid process. The company measures not only

temperatures and electric currents but also
live transmitted signals, received signals,
By default, the radar comes equipped with storage
for several days of I/Q data recording.

deployment” computational power, etc.

The company also uses internal
Rapid-deployment radars
Meteopress radars are known for their rapid
microphones, AI-powered cameras and infrared deployment. Tower radars are deployed within
cameras to detect any possible malfunctions. one day, while the mobile C-band radar MASEC
If any irregularities are detected, notifications is deployed within 10 minutes, including the
are sent to the control and command center in deployment of its 7m hydraulic tower. Radars
Prague in the Czech Republic, and to the client need to start measuring immediately.
via the chosen method – API, email, Slack, First, the hardware must be installed. The
WhatsApp, SMS or other. radar is oriented using a built-in GPS and
magnetic north sensor; automated sun scanning
Unlimited software licenses is executed to precisely align the geometry.
The umbrella software for Meteopress radars Sun scanning also checks that the antenna is
is called the Standard Meteorological Radar assembled correctly and the receiver works.
Toolkit. It gives clients full and secure control Once the hardware is ready (which takes only
over the radar and includes setting the radar a few minutes), the software magic begins.
scanning strategy, observing live radar data Adaptive clutter maps are inferred
and checking the status of the radar. automatically and in real time during the first
To get the most out of the radar for the radar rotation. Each location has different
largest audience, Meteopress does not limit specifics regarding factors such as noise level and

LEFT: Meteopress’s MASEC

mobile C-band radar, which is
fully powered by solar panels

RIGHT: The Meteopress

AIREN-NWP offers absolute
error parameter decrease
compared to the NWP baseline

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 59

Solid-state radars

Meanwhile, AI Severe Nowcasting is a

LEFT: The AIREN Severe proprietary software based on neural networks,
Nowcasting product can which detects and tracks storm cells, predicting
be used as a tool for their movement, growth and decay. The system’s
- meteorologists to increase
warning accuracy or as an
output is available through a GUI or API
connector. The GUI is designed to provide
automatic warning system
forecasters with an additional tool and source of
BELOW: The BITE interface information to issue severe weather warnings.
in Meteopress’s basic SMRT The API can connect to other applications, such
radar software as iOS or Android apps, delivering precise
warnings directly to end users.
But the holy grail of AI in meteorology is to
use it in weather models. There are dozens of
teams around the world trying to crack this. The
local interference. The radar automatically adopts Meteopress team has decided to use the strengths
all signal processing offsets and thresholds to of AI, which are to recognize the patterns and
precisely measure the whole set of weather quickly recalculate the results.
features both instantly after the installation Enter AIREN-NWP, a novel solution combining
and reliably in the longer term. Furthermore, the strengths of rapidly
each radar moment is self-calibrated within updated AI nowcasts with
the software signal processor, providing true the meteorological expertise
low-maintenance operations. and robustness of numerical

Remote radar fixes The holy grail of AI in weather prediction (NWP).

It uses data such as synoptic-
Meteopress goes beyond just knowing when scale meteorological station
something is wrong. In its radars, the company
deploys an equipment it calls a remote protection
meteorology is to use it in measurements, as well as
radar and satellite imagery
box (ReProBox). The main task of this equipment
is to allow independent direct access to every
radar component at any given moment.
weather models. There are to post-process NWP
forecasts. The system
enhances accuracy by
Meteopress’s ReProBox contains a
microcomputer with a Linux operating system, an dozens of teams around the correcting biases in NWP
forecasts and integrating
independent internet connection and an
independent power supply and battery. When
legacy radars were unexpectedly down, it was
world trying to crack this” the latest real-time data
from diverse sources. It
provides more detailed
impossible to know the reason for such a predictions, such as a
stoppage. It could have been that some key one-hour time step improved from the three-
component of the equipment was down. But more hour step of the input GFS data. Furthermore,
often the reason was simply that the electricity or AIREN-NWP computes new, more accurate
internet connection was faulty. predictions as often as the relevant real-world
Now, thanks to the ReProBox and its data update becomes available.
independent concept, Meteopress can access the Meteopress AIREN-NWP can be tailored to use any NWP
radar, check its connections and find out which To learn more, scan model and any combination of relevant input
part is at fault. What’s more, as Meteopress radars the QR code or visit: data, empowering the recipients of its predictions
are software-based, the firm can access each www.meteopress.com to navigate even the most unpredictable weather
individual component of the radar through its scenarios with greater confidence and readiness. z
firmware, adjust it and upgrade or downgrade
it to put it back online.

AI in numerical weather prediction

The Meteopress team prides itself on having the
best team in the world when it comes to using
AI in meteorology.
The company’s AI Radar Nowcasting, for
example, is an advanced AI radar image
nowcasting system that delivers at least 20-50%
increased precision compared with the standard
optical flow methods. Using the potential of
neural networks, it provides the world’s most
precise radar nowcasting by directly forecasting
radar echo. The system has state-of-the-art
90-minute radar nowcasting capability, built on
deep physics-constrained recurrent convolutional
neural networks (CNNs) and GANs.

60 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 PA-XS miniature Sodar
Acoustic Wind Profiler
HUGE INVISIBLE METEOROLOGICAL TOWER
www.remtechinc.com – [email protected]

Wind speed color facsimile

Hydrogen-powered weather balloons
Frank Smartz, Nel Hydrogen

THE CASE for hydrogen

Compact PEM
electrolyzer

T
generating
hydrogen on-site
Nel Hydrogen for balloon lift

explores how the

here has been much recent debate about
which type of gas should be used in
use of hydrogen in on-site production via electrolysis with a liquid
potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte; or via
weather balloons. Many organizations weather balloons is electrolysis with a proton exchange membrane.
in the weather balloon market, from For the generation of systems that produce
the military to civil government and gaining ground in hydrogen gas from electricity and water, there
meteorological users, typically resort to using the meteorological are two main options: KOH electrolysis and
helium due to concerns over the safety of PEM electrolysis; the latter uses a solid polymer
hydrogen. However, hydrogen generation has sector thanks to electrolyte. There are many differences between
changed dramatically since the advent of proton
exchange membrane (PEM) technology. This
the development KOH and PEM electrolysis, with the KOH systems
presenting more drawbacks and safety risks.
technology produces pure hydrogen safely and of proton exchange KOH systems, for example, require the use
reliably on-site – using only water and electricity of hazardous, caustic chemicals, including
– at an affordable price. membrane potassium hydroxide. Also, KOH systems
The PEM electrolyzers sold worldwide, technology typically use a balanced pressure design, which, if
such as those from Nel Hydrogen, are used in a not maintained properly, may allow the hydrogen
variety of applications outside the meteorological and oxygen gases to mix, creating the risk of a
field, including heat treating, electronics dangerous explosion.
manufacturing, cooling of power plant turbine PEM systems, on the other hand, do not
generator windings and gas chromatography. use hazardous chemicals. They also employ a
They have demonstrated high reliability in a differential pressure design, which eliminates
wide range of environments and duty cycles. the risks associated with mixing the two gases.
Illustration of the proton
Having used helium for the past 40 years, exchange membrane
Using a solid electrolyte, PEM systems produce
many meteorological agencies, such as (PEM) electrolysis process hydrogen from pure water and electricity. The
Environment Canada and the US National latter can be generated by solar panels,
Weather Service, are now allowing some making on-site hydrogen generation
sites to fill their balloons with hydrogen. independent of local power grids and
These organizations are switching for two their possible limitations, which is an
main reasons: price and availability. Many important secondary benefit.
balloon sites are in remote areas where The maintenance needs of KOH and
delivering gas is difficult. Additionally, the PEM hydrogen generation systems also
delivery of either hydrogen or helium in differ. KOH system components, for example,
high-pressure cylinders poses certain risks. corrode with every system startup and shutdown.
Through the deployment of on-site hydrogen KOH systems typically require 40+ hours of
generation systems, observations in remote maintenance each year, compared with only
locations can be made without the dangers around four hours for PEM systems.
and logistical difficulties associated with the PEM systems require a much smaller
transportation and storage of these gases in operating footprint, and their components
high-pressure cylinders. are self-contained in smaller cabinets than
Furthermore, helium availability is limited commercially available KOH systems.
but hydrogen can be made anywhere As more and more upper-air sites turn to
at any time using only water and on-site hydrogen generators, it is important to
electricity. On-site hydrogen consider the most viable option for
generation eliminates the issues production of the gas: proton exchange
of scarcity, delivery and cost when membrane systems. z
compared with helium, and there are
several economical ways of generating
the gas: on-site production via a chemical reaction Nel Hydrogen
like steam reforming (a process that generates To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
hydrogen from natural gas or other hydrocarbon www.nelhydrogen.com
fossil fuels); using calcium hydroxide cartridges;

62 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

 Data
Toby Meierbachtol PhD, developer – data scientist, Synoptic Data PBC

SHARING
Synoptic Data
To learn more, scan the QR code or visit:
www.synopticdata.com

seconds matter. Technical infrastructure is focused

on scalability and efficiency by leveraging AWS

Earth’s data
cloud services. Given the massive inventory growth
to more than 144 million daily observations, along
with quality control, archival and subminute data
serving capabilities, Synoptic strives to eliminate
Synoptic Data discusses the need for a central the barrier between measurement and action. To

T
data hub for environmental information to benefit this end, it provides a range of tools for easy access,
including flat file downloads, API and push services,
industry, save lives and protect infrastructure and Esri feature layers and web applications.

Serving data providers and users alike

he need for real-time, in-situ weather As a data aggregator, Synoptic values its role as
data to support decision making and a trusted partner to network operators. It ingests
situational awareness is more important data using flexible procedures and provides
today than ever. Entities around the top-notch data stewardship capabilities.
globe, from businesses to academia and Synoptic’s sophisticated suite of internal quality
government agencies, require accurate weather control and network monitoring tools provide
data to save lives, protect property and increase valuable insights into network, station and
organizational efficiency. sensor status. Data can be fully restricted or
Weather networks are operated by thousands network providers can share it openly with the

320
of disparate public, private and academic global community as desired.
organizations, each tailored to the unique Downstream users benefit from Synoptic’s
needs of individual network operators and their data hub, receiving up-to-the-minute weather
constituents. Often, data from these systems data enriched with quality control flags and
is stored locally and owners are tasked with value-added products. The derived precipitation
maintaining the physical stations and IT The number of data service simplifies the processing of precipitation
infrastructure required to archive, visualize data from stations reporting in various formats
and deliver their data. This has resulted in
providers Synoptic works and time intervals. Data from Synoptic can be
discrete silos of information around the world. with globally shared with the WIS 2.0 system, eliminating the
With increasing demand for environmental data, need for a physical WIS 2.0 node.
there is a corresponding need for a global ‘network
of networks’ resource that enables central A mission for public good
collection, discovery and access to this data. As a public benefit corporation (PBC) and recently
Synoptic Data realized the need for a central certified B Corp, Synoptic has a core mission to
data hub when it supported the 2002 Salt Lake be a trusted steward of data and facilitate the
City Winter Olympics, providing data from sharing of environmental data with users around
numerous stations throughout the intermountain the globe. It partners with many organizations
region to enhance situational awareness and including commercial companies, universities,
nowcasting. Since then, the company has become local governments, and federal and international
a trusted partner for network operators around hydrometeorological agencies such as NOAA’s
the globe and a source of real-time, fixed, mobile, National Weather Service and the World
ground-based, airborne and oceanographic Meteorological Organization. While doing so,
information. Synoptic has grown from 46 in-situ More than 150,000 weather Synoptic focuses on developing services that
regional weather stations to more than 150,000 stations are available globally enhance the capabilities of data providers and
platforms and 320 data providers globally. through the Synoptic Data API empowering users to gain actionable insights
quickly and efficiently. z
Maximize discovery, minimize delay
Knowing where observational assets are and
what is available are often the first challenges
one confronts when searching for environmental
information. Synoptic has addressed this through
its web-based Synoptic Data Viewer, where
available observational resources are easily
discoverable. Filters for sorting by network or
geography or recent station data are provided.
As a vital resource to support real-time
decision making, Synoptic understands that

April 2024 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • 63

Have you met… Irfan Elahi

SUPER POWER
Irfan Elahi, director of the high-performance computing division at
the National Center for Atmospheric Research, talks to MTI about
the new Derecho supercomputer, which began operations last year

D
erecho, the new National Center Within this area, scientists are using
for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Derecho for a very high-resolution model, the
supercomputer for advancing Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS),
the Earth system sciences, is a to simulate the atmosphere in more detail.
19.87-petaflops system that will The high resolution can improve forecasts
help scientists conduct the research by capturing atmospheric events ranging
needed to better understand a range of from destructive thunderstorm systems to
phenomena that affect society. precipitation in remote mountain regions.
“The new supercomputer will help us They are also using another model,
develop improved predictions of seasonal named FastEddy, to identify and quantify
water supply, drought risk and flooding, for fugitive methane emissions at oil and gas
example,” explains Elahi. “It will also help production sites and simulate eddies and
with better wildfire risk management, other turbulent flow features along urban
enhanced forecasting of climate change will allow more detailed and societally streets, which can help predict impacts on
hazards and impacts, renewable energy relevant projections of global and regional drones and other small aerial vehicles. z
optimization, air quality analysis and climate change,” explains Elahi.
improved understanding of the dangers According to NCAR, one research team
posed by solar storms.” is already using Derecho to create an ABOVE LEFT: Irfan Elahi has worked at NCAR
According to Elahi, high-performance ensemble of detailed computer simulations for over 20 years and been director of the high-
computers like Derecho enable researchers showing how the climate is likely to change performance computing division since June 2020
to run increasingly detailed models that at very fine scales across the western US. BELOW: Derecho is expected to deliver about
simulate complex processes and how they This novel approach will help reduce 3.5 times the scientific throughput of the
might unfold in the future. “Scientists can uncertainties about future climate and existing Cheyenne supercomputer
also harness the increased computing power provide researchers with an important
to run multiple simulations that provide a data set at a time when the western US
more complete picture of the Earth system. is contending with unprecedented water
This type of ensemble modeling enables shortages, fire weather conditions and
them to quantify the likely range of heat extremes, NCAR noted.
outcomes, or uncertainty, of a given event. Severe weather is another area where
“Ensemble predictions are particularly research is accelerating thanks to Derecho.
helpful for providing resource managers and “Derecho is expected to help provide more
policy experts with valuable information for realistic simulations of weather hazards
planning ahead and mitigating risk,” he adds. such as thunderstorms, tornadoes and
Climate change is one area where the hurricanes, which will enable scientists
new computer is speeding up research. “The to gain new insights into the processes
system’s increased capability will be critical involved, improve the models used for
to the development of the next version of weather prediction and better represent
NCAR’s flagship global climate model, the hazards and their impacts in a changing
Community Earth System Model, which climate,” explains Elahi.

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64 • www.meteorologicaltechnologyinternational.com • April 2024

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