Christophe Accadia

• Researcher at European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

The Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) is a project led by the European Space Agency (ESA) that has several novel aspects. From a technical perspective, it serves as a demonstrator of how to expand the network of operational satellite-based microwave sensors cost-effectively and acts as the proto-flight model for a suggested constellation of satellites...

Validation activities are critical to ensure the quality, credibility, and integrity of Earth observation data. With the deployment of advanced active remote sensors in space, a clear need arises for establishing best practices in the field of cloud, aerosol and precipitation profile validation. This publication fulfills this need, by proposing com...

A constellation of microwave sounders named the EUMETSAT Polar System–Sterna (EPS–Sterna) is under study at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), with the aim of complementing the backbone orbits of the global observing system in low Earth orbit. The satellites of this constellation would be similar...

We model the sea foam emissivity at frequencies from 1 to 89 GHz. This model is part of the work done by an international science team to develop a radiative transfer model of reference quality for the ocean surface emissivity from L band to infrared frequencies. A study of the sensitivity to different foam properties (foam layer thickness and uppe...

The forthcoming spaceborne ice cloud imager (ICI) millimeter/submillimeter-wave radiometer is designed to support climate monitoring and ice clouds representation in weather and climate models. The assessment of the correct pointing of each ICI channel is of undeniable importance to deliver high-quality products. Nevertheless, the ICI channels have...

ISSI Science Team Meeting Report on Development of a Reference-Quality Model For Ocean Surface Emissivity and Backscatter from the Microwave to the Infrared

The EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) will be followed by a second generation system, EPS-SG, in the 2020–2040 timeframe and is the European contribution to the Joint Polar System being jointly set up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. Among the various missions which are part of EPS-SG, there are the Mi...

The second generation of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS-SG) will include the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI), the first operational sensor covering sub-millimetre wavelengths. Three copies of ICI will be launched that together will give a measurement time series exceeding 20 years. Due to the novelty of ICI, preparing the data processing is especially impor...

The second generation of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS-SG) will include the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI), the first operational sensor covering sub-millimetre wavelengths. Three copies of ICI will be launched that together will give a measurement series exceeding 20 years. Due to the novelty of ICI, preparing the data processing is especially important...

In late 2009, the meteorological component of the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)'s Hydro-Meteo-Marine Forecasting System (Sistema Idro-Meteo-Mare – SIMM), namely the hydrostatic Quadrics BOlogna Limited Area Model (QBOLAM), was replaced by an up-to-date version of the same model. This new version, which is simply referr...

This paper aims to understand to what extent the winds fields from an advanced Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) system and from satellite scatterometer describe the same spatial and temporal features of the wind in the Mediterranean Sea. We investigated wind fields for the period February 2010 to February 2012 using the ASCAT scatterometer data w...

The EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) will be followed by a second generation system, EPS-SG, in the 2020-2040 timeframe and contribute to the Joint Polar System being jointly set up with NOAA. Among the various missions which are part of EPS-SG, there are the Microwave Imager (MWI) and the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI). The MWI frequencies are from 18 GHz up t...

The ocean surface vector wind information, derived from satellite-based wind scatterometer observations, is one of the essential inputs for operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) services. The local wind speed and direction are retrieved from accurate measurements of the ocean surface backscatter, performed from at least three largely-space...

This article investigates the spatial and temporal structures of the monthly mean vorticity fields and over the Mediterranean Basin, derived respectively from satellite scatterometers and ECMWF global atmospheric model (T799) wind fields from February 2006 to January 2010. Statistics show a mean difference between and over the whole Mediterranean S...

Relative wind vorticity $\omega$ (hereafter vorticity) is a crucial parameter to understand the spatial features of the wind field. In the Mediterranean Sea, which is the area where this study is focused, these are particularly interesting because they are often the effects of the interaction between the airflow and the orography. Wind vorticity ha...

The EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) will continue operational meteorological measurements from polar orbiting satellites in the mid-morning orbit in the 2020 timeframe. The Metop Second Generation (Metop- SG) satellites will carry a payload which is primarily dedicated to operational meteorology and climate monitoring. A core missi...

EUMETSAT has launched the first in a series of three Metop satellites in October 2006. Each satellite has a nominal 5 year life time, covering 14 years in total. Successive satellites will be launched with about 0.5 year overlap into the same sun-synchronous polar orbit, allowing inter-satellite calibration. Focusing on the GRAS RO (radio occultati...

The aim of this work is to evaluate the quality, in terms of location errors, of multi-model poor man's ensemble (PME) forecasts against the single model ones over the Calabria region. Several strategies were adopted to combine precipitation forecasts by three limited area models (LAMs), namely the mean, the median, and a probabilistic matching app...

The future EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), to be operational in 2020, will be a mandatory EUMETSAT programme in support of operational meteorology, climate monitoring and environmental services, such as atmospheric chemistry, operational oceanography, and land surface interactions at large scale. User re-quirements in terms of geophysical parameters t...

The Institute for Environmental Protection and Research - ISPRA (former Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services - APAT) runs operationally since 2000 an integrated meteo-marine forecasting chain, named the Hydro-Meteo-Marine Forecasting System (Sistema Idro-Meteo-Mare - SIMM), formed by a cascade of four numerical models, telesco...

Sharing knowledge and experience about NWP verification among forecasting centres, research institutions and environmental agencies in the Alpine area has been one of the main goals of the EU FORALPS project – INTERREG IIIB Alpine Space. In this framework, state-of-the-art verification techniques employed by project partners have been shared and ap...

EUMETSAT is currently preparing for the next generation of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS). Initial requirements have been established for the different envisaged observation missions within the framework of Post-EPS. Among the various candidate missions is the Radio Occultation (RO) mission, devoted to atmospheric sounding. This work presents an a...

This paper presents a study performed within the framework of the European Union’s (EU) VOLTAIRE project (Fifth Framework Programme). Among other tasks, the project aimed at the integration of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data with ground-based observations and at the comparison between water fields (precipitation and total column...

This paper deals with the dynamical aspect of variational data assimilation in the tropics and the role of the background-error covariances in the observing system simulation experiments for the tropics. The study uses a model that describes the horizontal structure of the potential temperature and wind fields in regions of deep tropical convection...

This paper deals with the dynamical aspect of variational data assimilation in the tropics and the role of the background-error covariances in the observing system simulation experiments for the tropics. The study uses a model that describes the horizontal structure of the potential temperature and wind fields in regions of deep tropical convection...

Multiscale methods, such as the power spectrum, are suitable diagnostic tools for studying the second order statistics of a gridded field. For instance, in the case of Numerical Weather Prediction models, a drop in the power spectrum for a given scale indicates the inability of the model to reproduce the variance of the phenomenon below the corresp...

Precipitation is surely one of the most important meteorological variables because of practical interest from the general public, hydrologists, power plant managers and other economic actors. Nevertheless, whoever works with numerical weather prediction (NWP) models knows how imperfect rainfall forecasts can be, especially at small scales. However,...

This article statistically analyses the location errors of the precipitation patterns forecast by three limited area models, namely the Fifth-Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5), the QUADRICS BOlogna Limited Area Model (QBOLAM) and the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS), over the Calabria region (Italy) for the period October...

Many ‘high‐impact’ meteorological, marine and hydrological events in the Mediterranean area are characterized by horizontal spatial scales of the order of 10–100 km. Such events are, sometimes, driven by complex dynamical processes involving planetary scale atmospheric flows. Several international programs (ALPEX, POEM, MAP, PYREX, MEDEX) have impr...

EUMETSAT has initiated preparatory activities for the definition of the follow-on EUMETSAT Polar System (post- EPS) needed for the timeframe 2020 onwards as a replacement for the current EUMETSAT Polar System. Based on the first outputs of the EUMETSAT post-EPS user consultation process initiated in 2005, mission requirements for potential post-EPS...

This study compares dynamical aspects of the assimilation of space-borne wind observations from several scenarios with two Doppler wind lidars (DWL) in space. The impact is measured with respect to ADM-Aeolus, a DWL satellite built by the European Space Agency with launch scheduled for 2009. In particular, the role of the background-error covarianc...

Surface wind forecasts from a limited-area model (the Quadrics Bologna Limited-Area Model (QBOLAM)) covering the entire Mediterranean area at 0.1° grid spacing are verified against Quick Scat- terometer (QuikSCAT) wind observations. Only forecasts within the first 24 h in coincidence with satellite overpasses are used. Two years of data, from 1 Oct...

A ground-based radar (GR) has to measure rain from close to the radar to large distances from it. Conse-quently, the scattering volume of the GR changes significantly. As an advantage, the scattering volume of a space-borne radar is of similar size at all locations, thus allowing the compensation of the decreasing spatial resolution of the GR with...

On 16–17 November 2000, a relatively intense precipitation event on the north-western Italy was heavily underestimated, mainly due to shifting error, by three operational 10-km limited area models (LAMs) which differ about basic equations, domain size, and parameterisation schemes. The scope of the work is to investigate possible common error-sourc...

To obtain the offshore wind climatology over the whole Mediterranean region, European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 6-hourly wind data over a grid resolution of 0·5° × 0·5° for a period of 24 years have been retrieved. Data sets at 850 and 700 hPa pressure levels and 10 m above the surface were downloaded. For each grid point, m...

In the framework of the European VOLTAIRE project (Fifth Framework Programme), simulations of relatively heavy precipitation events, which occurred over the island of Cyprus, by means of numerical atmospheric models were performed. One of the aims of the project was indeed the comparison of modelled rainfall fields with multi-sensor observations. T...

Verification of modeled rainfall with precipitation observed by a rain gauge network has been performed in a case study over the Cyprus Island. Cyprus has a relatively dense rain gauge network. The applied verification method is the Contiguous Rain Area (CRA) analysis. Some drawbacks of the CRA method are pointed out when it is applied to such a ca...

This paper presents the first systematic limited area model (LAM) precipitation verification work over Italy. A resampling technique was used to provide skill score results along with confidence intervals. Two years of data were used, starting in October 2000. Two operational LAMs have been considered, the Limited Area Model Bologna (LAMBO) operati...

In the scope of the European project Hydroptimet, INTERREG IIIB-MEDOCC programme, limited area model (LAM) intercomparison of intense events that produced many damages to people and territory is performed. As the comparison is limited to single case studies, the work is not meant to provide a measure of the different models' skill, but to identify...

Within the framework of the European Interreg IIIb Medocc program, the HYDROPTIMET project aims at the optimization of the hydrometeorological forecasting tools in the context of intense precipitation within complex topography. Therefore, some meteorological forecast models and hydrological models were tested on four Mediterranean flash-flood event...

In the framework of the National Project “Sviluppo di distretti industriali per le Osservazioni della Terra” (Development of Industrial Districts for Earth Observations) funded by MIUR (Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica --Italian Ministry of the University and Scientific Research) two operational mesoscale models were set-up for...

The Mediterranean area is characterized by relevant hydrological, meteorological and marine processes developing at horizontal space-scales of the order of 1-100 km. In the recent past, several international programs have been addressed (ALPEX, POEM, MAP, etc.) to "resolving" the dynamics of such motions. Other projects (INTERREG-Flooding, MEDEX, e...

The Hydrology Department of the Agency for the Protection of the Environment and the Technical Services (APAT) is involved in several important hydrological fields, in particular the knowledge and the preservation of the water resources, the analyses of the hydrologic cycle, the knowledge of the marine dynamics, the defence of the coasts from erosi...

Grid transformations are common postprocessing procedures used in numerical weather prediction to transfer a forecast field from one grid to another. This paper investigates the statistical effects of two different interpolation techniques on widely used precipitation skill scores like the equitable threat score and the Hanssen-Kuipers score. The Q...

The forecast verification problem of precipitations is a complex task. Within the European project “INTERREG II C" a method designed to discriminate statistically significant differences between skill scores has been applied. This methodology uses a resampling technique (bootstrap) as hypothesis test. Three different operational Limited Area Models...

Flood forecasting has been under focus in the recent past as a fundamental task for meteorological services, and particularly in the Mediterranean area. In this context, verification of precipitation forecast is a key issue for the forecasting community since affects both research and development issues and operational forecast verification ac- tiv...

Sharing knowledge and experience about NWP verification among forecasting and research centres, and en- vironmental agencies in the alpine area is one of the main goals of the EU FORALPS project - INTERREG IIIB Alpine Space. In this framework, employed state-of-the-art verification techniques have been shared and applied to numerical simulations of...