Thursday, 31 August 2023
Boundary Waters (Hyatt Regency Minneapolis)
The Joint Expert Team on Operational Weather Radar (JET-OWR) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is preparing an eight-volume Operational Guide to Weather Radar Best Practices (BPG). The scope addresses the end-to-end of a complete weather radar system starting with the planning and sustainable resourcing of a national weather radar program, and ending with a radar-based quantitative precipitation estimate (QPE). Included in this scope are the representation (formatting) of sweep and volume data in polar (spherical) coordinates (FM301-CfRadial2, see separate presentation), and methods of data exchange. The respective BPG parts are guides to weather radar
I. Network Program Design
II. Technology
III. Procurement
IV. Siting, Configuration and Scan Strategies
V. Calibration, Monitoring and Maintenance
VI. Data Processing
VII. Data Representation and International Exchange
VIII. Operational Weather Radar Glossary of Terminology
The BPG identifies typical challenges associated with each of these topics, and offers solutions for each, including essential literature references. Target audiences are managers (decision-makers) of weather radar networks and practitioners like engineers and software developers, of WMO’s Members that are National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and supporting organizations, both those embarking on the establishment of a national weather radar network and those that already have.
In early 2023, Volumes I, II, III, and VII were officially approved for publication. Pre-production versions of these Volumes are available online at the WMO’s community website while official typeset versions are being prepared. The BPG’s WMO Guide number is yet to be assigned, but is expected be as part of production.
Volumes IV, V and VI are being prepared for submission to, and endorsement by, the third session of WMO’s Infrastructure Commission in early 2024. Volume VIII is still at the thought stage, and could either contribute to or complement the AMS Glossary of Meteorology, recognizing that the WMO has recently taken the initiative to create a standard vocabulary that may also serve this purpose.
The BPG is expected to complement existing material such as the chapter on weather radar in the WMO Guide on Instruments and Methods of Observation (GIMO, WMO Publication No. 8, Volume III, Chapter 7), the International Standards Organization’s “Meteorology — Weather radar — Part 1: System performance and operation” (ISO 19926-1:2019), and WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Manual and Guide (WMO Publications No. 1160 and 1165, respectively).
I. Network Program Design
II. Technology
III. Procurement
IV. Siting, Configuration and Scan Strategies
V. Calibration, Monitoring and Maintenance
VI. Data Processing
VII. Data Representation and International Exchange
VIII. Operational Weather Radar Glossary of Terminology
The BPG identifies typical challenges associated with each of these topics, and offers solutions for each, including essential literature references. Target audiences are managers (decision-makers) of weather radar networks and practitioners like engineers and software developers, of WMO’s Members that are National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and supporting organizations, both those embarking on the establishment of a national weather radar network and those that already have.
In early 2023, Volumes I, II, III, and VII were officially approved for publication. Pre-production versions of these Volumes are available online at the WMO’s community website while official typeset versions are being prepared. The BPG’s WMO Guide number is yet to be assigned, but is expected be as part of production.
Volumes IV, V and VI are being prepared for submission to, and endorsement by, the third session of WMO’s Infrastructure Commission in early 2024. Volume VIII is still at the thought stage, and could either contribute to or complement the AMS Glossary of Meteorology, recognizing that the WMO has recently taken the initiative to create a standard vocabulary that may also serve this purpose.
The BPG is expected to complement existing material such as the chapter on weather radar in the WMO Guide on Instruments and Methods of Observation (GIMO, WMO Publication No. 8, Volume III, Chapter 7), the International Standards Organization’s “Meteorology — Weather radar — Part 1: System performance and operation” (ISO 19926-1:2019), and WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Manual and Guide (WMO Publications No. 1160 and 1165, respectively).
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