Abstract
Abstract. The INCA-CE (Integrated Nowcasting through Comprehensive Analysis – Central Europe) project aims at implementing a transnational weather information system as well as applications for different socio-economic sectors to reduce risks of major economic damage and loss of life caused by severe weather. Civil protection and also stakeholders from economic sectors are in a growing need of accurate and reliable short-term weather forecasts. Within INCA-CE, a state-of-the art nowcasting system (INCA) is implemented at weather services throughout the European Union's CE (Central Europe) Programme Area, providing analyses and short term forecasts to the aforementioned end-users. In a coherent approach, the INCA (Integrated Nowcasting through Comprehensive Analysis) system will be adapted for implementation and use in a number of partner countries. Within transregional working groups, the gap between short-term weather information and its downstream activities in hydrological disaster management, civil protection and road management will be bridged and best practice management and measure plans will be produced. A web-based platform for outreach to related socio-economic sectors will initiate and foster a dialogue between weather services and further stakeholders like tourism or the insurance sector, flood authorities for disaster management, and the construction industry for cost-efficient scheduling and planning. Furthermore, the project will produce a compact guideline for policy makers on how to combine structural development aspects with these new features. In the present paper, an outline of the project implementation, a short overview about the INCA system and two case studies on precipitation nowcasts will be given. Moreover, directions for further developments both within the INCA system and the INCA-CE project will be pointed out.
Highlights
Technological and scientific developments in nowcasting during the last 10 yr have opened up new opportunities in public safety, in risk management and environmental protection, and in cost effectiveness of services provided by the public and private sector
INCA-CE is a cooperation of 16 partners from 8 Central European countries which bridges the gap between the development of a nowcasting system and the specific demands of the application aspect on a transnational basis
Together with 10 partners from the scientific and application fields, the INCA-CE community sets up pilot implementations for applications in hydrology, civil protection and road safety
Summary
Technological and scientific developments in nowcasting during the last 10 yr have opened up new opportunities in public safety, in risk management and environmental protection, and in cost effectiveness of services provided by the public and private sector. Since weather phenomena do not “stop at borders”, the development of a truly integrated nowcasting system (which includes the whole chain from modeling to protective action) is best achieved in a transnational collaboration. INCA-CE is a cooperation of 16 partners from 8 Central European countries which bridges the gap between the development of a nowcasting system and the specific demands of the application aspect on a transnational basis. Six meteorological and hydrological institutions work together to enhance the nowcasting system INCA (Integrated Nowcasting Through Comprehensive Analysis; Haiden et al, 2010, 2011) as part of a transnational framework. Together with 10 partners from the scientific and application fields, the INCA-CE community sets up pilot implementations for applications in hydrology, civil protection and road safety. A. Kann et al.: INCA-CE: a Central European initiative in nowcasting severe weather and its applications
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