The OPERA Work plan is divided into five work areas, WA1 to WA5. Work area WA1 deals with data quality, user requirements and radar technology. WA2 deals with software issues. Coding of radar data in BUFR, one of the standard formats defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the task of WA3. Internal programme services, liaison and publicity are the subject of WA4. WA5 is the radar data hub.
The work is coordinated by two working groups. Working group WG1 is responsible for the tasks of work area WA1. WG2 deals with WA2-WA5. Liaison and publicity are handled by the whole OPERA group jointly. The working groups meet twice a year during the OPERA programme meetings. The WG1 is chaired by Iwan Holleman (KNMI, The Netherlands) and the WG2 by Anton Zgonc (Environmental Agency of Slovenia).
European weather radar network.
The programme structure
The OPERA workpackages
| 1.1 | Weather radars in Europe | All |
| 1.2 | Quality information | KNMI, FMI, MeteoSwiss, SMHI |
| 1.3 | Use of radar data | FMI, met.no |
| 1.4 | New technologies | UK Met Office, Météo-France |
| 1.6 | Product definition | FMI, met.no |
| 1.7 | Quality algorithms | IMWM |
| 2.1 | New data representation formats | SMHI |
| 2.2 | Compositing software support | TU Graz |
| 3.1 | BUFR maintenance | TU Graz |
| 4.1 | Logistical support | TU Graz, CHMI |
| 4.2 | Liaison, dissemination of information | All |
| 5.1 | Radar data hub | UK Met Office |
| 5.2 | Data hub options | UK Met Office |
| 6.1 | Programme management | FMI |
Schematic view of the common framework for quality information.
The Swiss task
The increasing interest in quantitative radar measurements from the operational hydrological and weather prediction communities asks for detailed information on data quality. MeteoSwiss proposes a new generic framework to optimise transfer of quality information from the observation unit to the user unit. This framework is part of work package 1.2, a partnership between KNMI, FMI, SMHI and the Swiss weather service MeteoSwiss.
Contact
MeteoSwiss, Radar and Satellites, CH-6605 Locarno-Monti, Switzerland
