EUMeTrain: Nowcasting CAL Module - Basic Nowcasting

Convection

"From this general analysis of the very unstable situation you are not able to forecast when and where thunderstorms will form exactly and which areas they will pass. For this we make a detailed monitoring of the convective cells first of all only from the most basic satellite material which is the IR image in a 15 minutes sequence. Our aim is to find out what we can forecast (nowcast) from a monitoring of cloudiness alone in respect to some locations (cities)."

 Basic Info  Dijon  Bern  Zürich  Bregenz  Salzburg
This is a 15 minutes sequence of enhanced IR images from 18 July 05/06 UTC to 16.30 UTC. The colours are chosen such that from -30°C in 5 degrees intervals the colours change. This is a typical enhancement for convective cells.
 

"After all these examples - and there would be many more possible - you should now (as for the frontal case) fill in the table below. It shall give you indication what can be extracted with which certainty for convective cases from this basic satellite material."

  Answer Possible No answer possible, but some hints No answer possible
Formation of Convective Cells
Life Cycle of Convective Cells
Arrival Time of Convective Cells
Low/High/Multilevel cloud
Arrival Time of Rain Area
Existence of Thunderstorms
Arrival Time of Thunderstorms

"Let us now examine a case of Fog and Stratus. Follow this link to begin!"