Verification of Flash Flood Watches and Warnings using 3D-Printed Automatic Weather Stations and Doppler Radar

Flash floods pose significant threats to life and property due to their rapid onset and high rainfall intensity. Response efforts rely heavily on timely and accurate rainfall information which are crucial for effective emergency response. The Barbados Meteorological Service's (BMS) aim to maintain effective hazard management is intertwined with verifying threshold parameters about that hazard. This study explores how the BMS has integrated 3D-printed automatic weather stations (3D-PAWS), developed in the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) COMET Program, integrated with the BMS Dual-Polarized Doppler Weather Radar (BMSPol) to enhance the verification of flash-flood watches and warnings. 3D-PAWS provides a cost-effective, customizable, and rapidly deployable solution for real-time meteorological measurements, including rainfall, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. The BMS has deployed over eighty-five 3D-PAWS stations from 2019 to present.

Results from the study indicate that the 3D-PAWS provides reliable and consistent meteorological data that aligns well with conventional weather station measurements. The study showed that the warning messages took upwards of two hours to reach the communities. The study showed that residents and emergency workers could benefit from having earlier warnings using real-time observations from the higher density observation network and faster dissemination time. The study demonstrated that access to higher resolution datasets improved the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to flash floods. With the use of the enhance BMS observation network, forecast capabilities should improve leading to more efficient disaster management procedures. This presentation will provide an overview of the study design, key results and challenges, and plans for future research.