The ESPOIRS Project

The prediction of heavy precipitation events and their evolution in relation to the relief of the island territories of the Indian Ocean in the context of climate change is marred by numerous errors which are largely attributable to our limited knowledge: i) of the large-scale conditions (synoptic) in which storm systems develop, and ii) small-scale physical processes that drive and modulate the distribution and intensity of precipitation at the local scale. The ESPOIRS project aims to address these limitations by exploiting a unique set of observations to better understand the mechanisms of precipitation formation, and to improve forecasting at different space-time scales. The ESPOIRS project is also designed to transfer knowledge to the Indian Ocean participating countries: Seychelles and Madagascar with direct implication in the radar observation analysis.

In particular, a major part of this project concerns the implementation of a transportable polarized Doppler X-band meteorological radar for the study of the properties and mechanisms of precipitation formation at the local scale in 3 particularly contrasting regions of an orographic point of view: La Réunion, the island of Mahé in the Seychelles and the north-eastern region of Madagascar. Such measurements on territories free of observations of this type are particularly interesting for developing collaborations with meteorological research centers in this region (Meteorological Service and Universities) in order to foster the understanding of the observed phenomena. In this framework, dedicated Topical Summer Schools will take place within Seychelles Meteorological Authority and Direction Générale de la Météorologie in Madagascar, and include meteorological services personnel as well as student participants from local universities with a technical and meteorological program.

In this presentation, we will describe the deployed radar system and its applications at the different implementation sites in Reunion, Seychelles and Madagascar with examples of typical observations of local weather conditions and their interactions with the contrasting island relief of these territories. Likewise, first experiment returns from local forecasters as well as students will be considered.