Research Results from the Priority Program SPP1167-PQP

Abstract

Between April 2004 and March 2010 the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (DFG) funded the Priority Program 1167 on Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting (QPF), also called “Precipitationis Quantitativae Predictio (PQP)”. The program committee for PP1167-PQP consisted of Andreas HENSE and Clemens SIMMER, University of Bonn; Christoph KOTTMEIER, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT; Gerhard ADRIAN, German Meteorological Service (DWD); and Volker WULFMEYER, University of Hohenheim. The overall goal of PQP was the improvement of short-range to medium-range QPF in Central Europe. Specifically, the goals of the six-year research endeavour have been (I) Identification of physical and chemical processes responsible for the deficiencies in quantitative precipitation forecast. (II) Determination and use of the potentials of existing and new data and process descriptions to improve quantitative precipitation forecast. (III) Determination of the prognosis potential of weather forecast models by statistico-dynamic analyses with respect to quantitative precipitation forecast. A first comprehensive overview of the work accomplished in PP1167-PQP was presented in the first PQP special issue of Meteorologische Zeitschrift Vol. 17, No. 6 from December 2008 (HENSE and WULFMEYER, 2008). Meanwhile the total number of publications arising from the priority program has excceeded the benchmark of 100 articles including those which are presented in this second PQP special issue of Meteorologische Zeitschrift (see Fig. 1). In order to bundle the research efforts of more than 20 projects in the PP1167-PQP and to foster synergy effects between the expertise of the various groups, steering committee decided to organize the different projects into four categories. These are the topics: