The Operational Program on the Exchange of Weather Radar Information (OPERA) has co-ordinated radar co-operation among national weather services in Europe for more than 20 years. It has introduced its own, manufacturer-independent data model, runs its own data center, and produces Pan-European radar composites. The applications using this data vary from data assimilation to flood warnings and the monitoring of animal migration. It has used several approaches to provide a homogeneous combination of disparate raw data and to indicate the reliability of its products. In particular, if a pixel shows no precipitation, it is important to know if that pixel is dry or if the measurement was missing.

No abstract

No abstract

In radar meteorology, greater interest is dedicated to weather radars and precipitation analyses. However, cloud radars provide us with detailed information on cloud particles from which the precipitation consists of. Motivated by research on the cloud particles, a vertical Ka-band cloud radar (35 GHz) was installed at the Milešovka observatory in Central Europe and was operationally measuring since June 2018. This study presents algorithms that we use to retrieve vertical air velocity (Vair) and hydrometeors. The algorithm calculating Vair is based on small-particle tracers, which considers the terminal velocity of small particles negligible and, thereby, Vair corresponds to the velocity of the small particles. The algorithm classifying hydrometeors consists of calculating the terminal velocity of hydrometeors and the vertical temperature profile. It identifies six hydrometeor types (cloud droplets, ice, and four precipitating particles: rain, graupel, snow, and hail) based on the calculated terminal velocity of hydrometeors, temperature, Vair, and Linear Depolarization Ratio. The results of both the Vair and the distribution of hydrometeors were found to be realistic for a thunderstorm associated with significant lightning activity on 1 June 2018.

No abstract