Meteorology: the AM realizes a new product for the estimation of instant rainfall

(To air Force)
12/06/19

From the month of June, the information processed by the Operations Center for Meteorology of Pratica di Mare (COMET) on the estimate of instantaneous precipitation observed by satellite is used by theEuropean Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). The data produced with post-processing systems of the Italian Air Force can be viewed on the Eumetview portal and on the website http://hsaf.meteoam.it/ specially made by the Air Force.

The new product P-IN-SEVIRI (Precipitation Instantaneous Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager), included in the international project H SAF (EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management), will be officially operational from the next 10 July, will allow a more accurate precipitation estimation thanks to the greater number of sensors used.

Compared to the previous product, the P-IN-SEVIRI will in fact make it possible to obtain a more precise and complete estimate, through the integration of data from polar satellites - which provide very defined information, thanks to the relative proximity of the satellites to the surface - with those collected by infrared sensors - more distant and at lower resolution but covering a wider portion of surface.

The algorithms that deal with the data coming from the polar satellites have been developed by the CNR-ISAC National Research Council always within the H SAF project.

The operational use of the new product finalizes the solid participation of the Air Force in the programs of the EUMETSAT consortium and rewards the efforts made in the implementation of observation systems and estimation of atmospheric parameters available to the country and the international community.

The Meteorological Operations Center (COMET), was born in the 2015 following the reorganization of the Armed Forces weather sector. It carries out the technical and operational activities, at national and international level, necessary to meet the meteo-climatological requirements for the Armed Forces, Defense and Country activities through monitoring and forecasting of the weather, collection, and the processing and dissemination of data and products, development of specialized applications and management of a meteorological database.