Study of a Mesoscale Convective Complex Over Balkans with Meteosat Data

Abstract

Large size mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) with long duration such as Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs) are rare in the Mediterranean basin. On May 24, 2009 one MCC crossed western and southern Balkan Peninsula causing severe weather, heavy precipitation, hail and strong wind. The case was analyzed using Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite data. First, an automatic algorithm for detecting and tracking convective cloud cells on infrared MSG images was applied to monitor the time evolution of several radiative, morphological and positional cloud parameters that express the MCC cloud top microphysics, structure, development and movement. Then successive multispectral MSG imagery was analyzed to reveal the organization and the cloud top microphysics of the system in different phases of its lifecycle. Visible images from the MSG satellite were used to identify the overshooting tops while infrared brightness temperature revealed the cloud top temperature structure. Composite imagery obtained from single channels or from various channel differences were analyzed to investigate the spatial distribution of convection and cloud top microphysics as well as the air mass type in middle troposphere. It is concluded that cloud tracking algorithms along with composites of satellite and lightning data has proved very valuable in assessing important features of a severe MCC in operational terms.KeywordsMesoscale Convective SystemCold CloudBrightness Temperature DifferenceCold RingMeteosat Second GenerationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.