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The Storm-Structure-Severity method for the identification of convective storm characteristics with conventional weather radar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2001

Petrus J M Visser
Petrus J M Visser
Affiliation:
Bethlehem Precipitation Research Project, South African Weather Bureau, Private Bag X15, Bethlehem, 9700, South Africa
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Abstract

Radar reflectivity information is often displayed in two dimensions, makingit difficult to extract the structural characteristics of convectivestorms. The maximum radar reflectivity and the vertical profile of liquidwater distribution in a vertical column of a convective cell is used todetermine a structural and intensity classification of the cell. Theapplication of this Storm-Structure-Severity classification is demonstratedby investigating a tornado event on 15 November 1998 in Harrismith, SouthAfrica, by using volume-scanned reflectivity data from the S-band MRL-5radar. The regions of convective development, decay and mesocycloneevolution are identified with this classification. The method is ableto extract the three-dimensional structural information of convectivestorms embedded in volume-scanned reflectivity data and present it ina simple display format.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Meteorological Applications , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 2001 , pp. 1 - 10
Copyright
© 2001 Royal Meterological Society

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