A multiple scale precipitation tracking and forecast package

Automated storm tracking has become a necessity for the meteorological and aviation communities during operations. In order to meet the needs of these communities, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) have developed the Storm Cell Identification and Tracking (SCIT) algorithm and the Scale Separation/Correlation Tracking (SS/CT) algorithm, respectively.

Both algorithms are designed to track areas of precipitation, but in different ways. The SS/CT algorithm utilizes a cross-correlation technique for storm tracking and provides a forecast image of the areal extent of precipitation. The SCIT algorithm, which is based on a centroid tracking technique, identifies individual cells and predicts future positions of those cells. By nature of the techniques employed by each algorithm, each tracks different scales of precipitation more efficiently. By combining forecasts from both algorithms, it is possible to create a package that will track multiple scales of precipitation, giving a better overall picture of the real motion of storms to operational users.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), through the Aviation Weather Research Program, has funded the NEXRAD Enhancements Product Development Team to develop an integrated SS/CT/SCIT environment that allows multi-scale precipitation tracking. This paper will discuss the progress on this tasking, along with a prototype operational concept. Plans are to use this concept to implement the SS/CT package into NSSL's Warning Decision Support System, Integrated Information (WDSS-II), as part of the Common Operations Development Environment (CODE).