ALBERT

Description: Two approaches to producing a hail climatology for Finland are compared. The first approach is based on 70 yr of hail reports from different sources (newspapers, storm spotters, and other volunteers). The second is derived primarily from radar data. It is shown that a selection of newspaper articles of hail damage covering a period of 70 yr provides a good overview of the typical monthly and diurnal distribution of hail occurrence over the country. Radar data covering five summers (2001–05) provide another data source, but with different potential sources of errors. The two distinct methods compared in this paper give roughly the same results in describing the hail climatology of Finland, which gives additional confidence in each of the methods. On the basis of both methods, most hailstones are observed in the afternoon, 1400–1600 local time. The hail “season” extends from May to early September with maximum occurrences in June, July, and August. This means that hail is most frequently observed when the convective energy available for storm growth is at its diurnal or seasonal peak. The length of the hail season is the same according to both radar and newspaper data. The main difference emerges in relation to July and August events: 37% of news about hail events is published in newspapers in late July but only 8% in early August, whereas for radar data the numbers are more evenly distributed, 33% and 18%, respectively. This can be partially explained by sociological factors—July is the main holiday month in Finland, when outdoor activities in more remote areas are more popular.

Description: The Finnish Meteorological Institute and Vaisala have established a mesoscale weather observational network in southern Finland. The Helsinki Testbed is an open research and quasi-operational program designed to provide new information on observing systems and strategies, mesoscale weather phenomena, urban and regional modeling, and end-user applications in a high-latitude (~60°N) coastal environment. The Helsinki Testbed and related programs feature several components: observing system design and implementation, small-scale data assimilation, nowcasting and short-range numerical weather prediction, public service, and commercial development of applications. Specifically, the observing instrumentation focuses on meteorological observations of meso-gamma-scale phenomena that are often too small to be detected adequately by traditional observing networks. In particular, more than 40 telecommunication masts (40 that are 120 m high and one that is 300 m high) are instrumented at multiple heights. Other instrumentation includes one operational radio sounding (and occasional supplemental ones), ceilometers, aerosol-particle and trace-gas instrumentation on an urban flux-measurement tower, a wind profiler, and four Doppler weather radars, three of which have dual-polarimetric capability. The Helsinki Testbed supports the development and testing of new observational instruments, systems, and methods during coordinated field experiments, such as the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM). Currently, the Helsinki Testbed Web site typically receives more than 450,000 weekly visits, and more than 600 users have registered to use historical data records. This article discusses the three different phases of development and associated activities of the Helsinki Testbed from network development and observational campaigns, development of the local analysis and prediction system, and testing of applications for commercial services. Finally, the Helsinki Testbed is evaluated based on previously published criteria, indicating both successes and shortcomings of this approach.

Description: The cloud mask is an essential product derived from satellite data. Whereas cloud analysis applications typically make use of information from cloudy pixels, many other applications require cloud-free conditions. For this reason many organizations have their own cloud masks tuned to serve their particular needs. Being a fundamental product, continuous quality monitoring and validation of these cloud masks are vital. This study evaluated the performance of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Meteorological Products Extraction Facility cloud mask (MPEF), together with the Nowcasting Satellite Application Facility (SAFNWC) cloud masks provided by Météo-France (SAFNWC/MSG) and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SAFNWC/PPS), in the high-latitude area of greater Helsinki in Finland. The first two used the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument from the geostationary Meteosat-8 satellite, whereas the last used the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument on board the polar-orbiting NOAA satellite series. Ceilometer data from the Helsinki Testbed, an extensive observation network covering the greater Helsinki area in Finland, were used as reference data in the cloud mask comparison. A computational method, called bootstrapping, is introduced to account for the strong temporal and spatial correlation of the ceilometer observations. The method also allows the calculation of the confidence intervals (CI) for the results. This study comprised data from February and August 2006. In general, the SAFNWC/MSG algorithm performed better than MPEF. Differences were found especially in the early morning low cloud detection. The SAFNWC/PPS cloud mask performed very well in August, better than geostationary-based masks, but had problems in February when its performance was worse. The use of the CIs gave the results more depth, and their use should be encouraged.