Severe Weather Events over Apulia Region Observed by Newly Installed C-Band Polarimetric Doppler Radar of RIVONA Project

Severe weather events have been observed from the recently installed Torchirolo radar in Apulia Region, southern Italy, around the Brindisi Airport area, the first of a complex, and still under completion, weather network of the RIVONA (“Flight risks mitigation and nowcasting at airports”) Project. The Torchiarolo radar was set up in November 2013. Specifically, RIVONA aims at mitigating flight risks associated with microbursts and wind shear phenomena. It resumes the “Joint Airport Weather Studies” (JAWS), the first innovative study on microburst-type wind-shear events conducted in the early 80's near to Denver airport (USA). However, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies not available at the time, such as dual-polarization radars and more sophisticated storm-tracking radar algorithms, represents the high-added value of the RIVONA project with respect to the JAWS experience. The RIVONA framework is made up of two C-band doppler radars pointing at Brindisi airport from two directions at 90°. More specifically, the Torchiarolo radar has full dual-polarization capability, while the second C band one is being installed in Mesagne. Furthermore, a network of six microbarographs, three microwave disdrometers (PLUDIX) and a Ka-band mobile doppler radar will soon be deployed along the airport landing strip complementing the C-band radar observations of the wind-shear and other flight risks. Though RIVONA principally aims at improving the Brindisi airport nowcasting systems by setting up a complex real-time weather network, the newly installed Torchiarolo radar is on its own already a powerful tool able to detect and follow the evolution over the entire region of intense convective precipitation. The Mediterranean Sea is frequently struck by high impact severe weather events causing disasters and serious threats for human safety. Numbers of violent meteorological events, such as flash-floods, devastating hailstorms as well as tropical-like cyclones have been reported in the literature over Mediterranean region. In spite of being a relatively small basin, several physical mechanisms turned up to be favourable to initiate and emphasize convection: latent-heat supply, intricate orography, frequent humid south winds are just some key factors that can bring about severe Mediterranean cyclonic activities. Accordingly, three relevant weather events occurred in the Mediterranean basin since radar installation have been selected and will be presented giving careful attention to radar parameters evolution: a flash-flood, a heavy hailstorm and a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in Apulia. They will be discussed by means of polarimetric and doppler radar observations, as a first contribution to a radar climatology of the region. Each event will be shortly introduced by a large-scale synoptic analysis eventually accompanied by thermodynamic vertical soundings in Brindisi station.