High Impact Weather

Hazardous Weather and Flooding

Partners and Customers

Our goal is to improve our understanding of the physical and dynamic processes governing storms and floods and to develop capability to forecast these phenomena.

Storms, floods and droughts have a major impact on everyday life around the world. An improved ability to forecast, quantify and manage meteorological and hydrological risks, as well as water resources, is essential to protect the public, property and infrastructure, and to maintain a sustainable economy.

We will improve methods of assimilating data from meteorological satellites and ground based radar into high resolution atmospheric models, to increase skills in forecasting hazardous weather. We are using EO measurements of soil moisture, snow and flooding to develop hydrological models for flood forecasting, working with operational agencies towards and end-to-end integrated forecasting capability.

This theme focuses on the synergistic use of remote sensing data for high resolution predictions of hazardous weather, floods and water resources.

Our priorities are:

• Developing assimilation techniques to ingest data from high-resolution satellite and ground based measurements into high-resolution atmospheric models
• Utilising snow and flood extent measurements from a new generation of satellites to improve models of flooding and water resources.
• To prepare the science base in order to exploit forthcoming missions such as GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) and Earthcare

Our current work includes:

• Evaluation of TIGGE (THORPEX Interactive Grand Global Ensemble) data
• Development of software to run an NWP convection-resolving model in ensemble mode
• Investigation of passive microwave snow retrievals
• Development of techniques to apply SAR data to urban floods
• Development of a morphodynamic data assimilation system.