Preface "Observation, Prediction and Verification of Precipitation"

Abstract

This special volume comprises papers presented at a session entitled “Observation, Prediction and Verification of Precipitation (General Session)” which was organized within the framework of the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU), held in Vienna, Austria, from 2 to 7 April 2006. The contributors to this session were encouraged by the Editors to submit a short but self-contained paper summarizing their presentation for consideration for publication in this volume. All the papers submitted were reviewed by at least two independent anonymous reviewers. Twentythree papers were accepted and are published in this volume. The topics reported in this volume cover a large spectrum of precipitation related issues, covered in the above mentioned session, which include: Precipitation measurements by ground-based in situ sensors (e.g. rain gauges, disdrometers); estimation of accuracy of measurements and comparison of measuring instrumentation; remote sensing of precipitation; methodologies used for the estimation, and validation; precipitation forecasting with numerical weather prediction models and probabilistic approaches; verification of precipitation forecasts; quantitative precipitation forecasting with radar data and validation; experimental model studies on precipitation. The diversity of themes presented in the present volume underlines the great interest of the scientific community to the meteorological phenomenon of precipitation and the variability in the approaches adopted for tackling various precipitation related issues. We hope that you will consider this collection of papers on present advances in the field of precipitation not only as a reference volume to related issues, but also as a source of inspiration to current and future research. We wish to stress our appreciation to the authors of the twenty-three papers included in the present volume for their co-operation. We also extend our sincere thanks to the forty-eight scientists from the international community who offered their valuable services as reviewers. Thanks also are due to Copernicus Publications ‐ Production Office for their guidance during the various phases of the assembly of this volume.