The Convective Precipitation Experiment (COPE)

Flash flooding due to heavy convective showers can cause incredible damage to property and even loss of lives. The showers can occur very quickly, so providing good warning is difficult. Significant progress has been made recently in understanding how these convective storms form and forecasts of the timing and location has improved as a result. However, it is very challenging for models to correctly predict the amount of rain. That is the main goal of the COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE): to study the formation and growth of the precipitation. The project will take place during July and August, 2013 in the south west peninsula of England. This region is prone to flash floods due to its steep narrow coastal valleys and the occurrence of convergence lines triggering storms repeatedly over the same location. COPE is being led by the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and Met Office (MO), and will involve scientists from the Universities of Reading and Manchester in the UK, and Purdue and Wyoming in the USA.

The new NCAS mobile X-band radar made by Selex Gematronik will be a key instrument in the project. This Doppler, dual-polarization radar has a beamwidth of 1 degree and can scan at a rate of up to 36 degrees per second. Multiple-Doppler analysis will be possible due to the proximity of the MO network C-band radars and the 25m Chilbolton S-band radar. Three research aircraft will fly through the clouds and in the surrounding environment to gather information about the cloud particles in the developing stages. The two cloud-penetrating aircraft are the FAAM BAe 146 operated by the MO and NCAS, and the University of Wyoming King Air equipped with the Wyoming Cloud Radar. The synergy between the ground-based radars and the aircraft is an important aspect of the project. In addition the MO Cessna aircraft will be used for sampling the environment below the clouds. The University of Manchester aerosol instruments and the NCAS wind profiler, Doppler lidar, micro-rain radar and radiometer will also be operated. An overview of the field campaign with a focus on the mobile radar observations will be presented.