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| Titel |
The WegenerNet observing weather and climate at 1 km-scale resolution: a new look at convective precipitation and other local-scale processes |
| VerfasserIn |
G. Kirchengast, T. Kabas, C. Stieb, A. Leuprecht, C. Bichler |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250024488
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The region Feldbach in Eastern Styria, Austria, characteristic for experiencing a rich
variety of weather and climate patterns, has been selected by the WegCenter as a
focus area for a pioneering weather and climate observation experiment at very
high resolution: The WegenerNet climate station network region Feldbach (in brief
WegenerNet) is comprised of 151 meteorological stations, which measure temperature,
humidity, precipitation, and other parameters, with high accuracy in a tightly spaced
grid (one station per ~2 km2; each with 5-min time sampling; ~1.4 km x 1.4 km
grid in an ~20 km x 15 km area centered near the City of Feldbach at 46.93-N,
15.90-E).
Since Jan 2007 the WegenerNet is providing, as part of the pilot and demonstration phase,
regular measurements from the entire grid and since fall 2008 a complete quality-controlled
data stream is available in near real time (data latency less than 1–2 hours) for visualization
and download via the WegenerNet data portal (www.wegenernet.org). Currently (early 2009)
the network demonstration is moving into its final phase, with consolidating maintenance
procedures, advancing weather and climate data product development and completing the
data portal bilingually (German, English). Full operations is foreseen to be reached mid 2009,
from which on the net is scheduled as a long-term field experiment serving as a
high-resolution monitoring and validation site for weather and climate research and
applications.
Adding further value, the WegenerNet data are complemented by lightening measurements in
cooperation with the Inst. of Physics/Univ. of Munich (European LiNet network, including
dedicated stations in Feldbach and Graz). In addition, a 3D-steerable Doppler weather radar
(of the Styrian Hail Protection Society at Reicherhöhe near Graz) is available with
un-obscured view of clouds and rain over the WegenerNet area, focusing its measurements on
hail and heavy rainfall. Complementary hailpad measurements are planned as well (as of
2009).
Many research projects investigating climate and environmental change and impacts, as well
as local weather (extremes), will benefit from WegenerNet data covering the local scales from
1–10 km. This is a key domain for future high-resolution climate modeling and
analysis, currently mainly covering the 10–50 km scale, for meeting the needs of
climate impact models and studies in heterogeneous orography such as the Alpine
region. Applications include validation of non-hydrostatic climate models operated at
1–10 km resolution for dynamical downscaling, validation of statistical climate
downscaling techniques, in particular for precipitation, “ground-truth” provision for and
validation of high-resolution atmospheric and hydrologic Earth observation data from
satellites, validation of weather radar rain rate estimates, study of orography-local
climate relationships, basin-scale and local water balance assessments, and many
others.
The presentation will introduce the WegenerNet and its characteristics and capabilities
along the lines above and will show example applications of its (1 km x 1 km)
weather and climate products, with focus on the highly-variable convective summer
precipitation. On-line access will also be demonstrated (www.wegcenter.at/wegenernet,
www.wegenernet.org). |
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