• Quantitative Precipitation Estimation
• Nowcasting
  • Characterisation of convective events in Belgium
  • Operational nowcasting
• Hail detection
• Impact of birds on Doppler observations

Characterisation of convective events in Belgium

Scientific research on severe convective storms on the Belgian territory is very limited and a systematic study of convective storms on Belgian territory is currently lacking. However, in the last years it became clear that typical severe storm features like bow echoes, downbursts or even tornadoes are more frequent than previously thought.

Recently, our radar group started a research project to characterise the convective storm lifecycle. The main source of information for this study is the radar archive of the RMI radar in Wideumont, operational since 2001, and the archive of the Belgocontrol radar in Zaventem, operational since 2003. The radar data will be complemented by data from the lightning detection system Safir, Meteosat images and derived products, and NWP output (e.g., CAPE or CIN indices). The study should ultimately lead to a detailed knowledge of the tracks and lifecycle of convective storms in Belgium, in relation to e.g. the initial mesoscale situation, the local orography, ... This knowledge will also provide very useful information in the development of the future operational nowcasting system at the RMI.

An example of an interactive analysis of a convective event (16h49UT, 1 Oct 2006) with the "TITAN" software package developed at UCAR (US). The cell marked in blue on the figure caused a tornado in the vicinity of Brussels. The yellow polygons indicate the past locations of this cell, the cyan ones the future locations. The red area is a forecast position of this cell for 1hr ahead, based on its previous locations and size.

Contact person for this topic: Edouard Goudenhoofdt