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Meteorologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 20, No. 2, 091-093 (April 2011) Editorial
c○ by Gebrüder Borntraeger 2011
Research Results from the Priority Program SPP1167-PQP
ANDREAS HENSE 1∗ , VOLKER WULFMEYER 2
1 Meteorological Institute, University of Bonn, Germany
2 Institut für Physik und Meteorologie, Universität Hohenheim, Germany
Between April 2004 and March 2010 the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (DFG) funded the Priority Program
1167 on Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting (QPF), also called “Precipitationis Quantitativae Predictio (PQP)”.
The program committee for PP1167-PQP consisted of Andreas HENSE and Clemens SIMMER, University of Bonn;
Christoph KOTTMEIER, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT; Gerhard ADRIAN, German Meteorological Service
(DWD); and Volker WULFMEYER, University of Hohenheim. The overall goal of PQP was the improvement of
short-range to medium-range QPF in Central Europe. Specifically, the goals of the six-year research endeavour
have been (I) Identification of physical and chemical processes responsible for the deficiencies in quantitative
precipitation forecast. (II) Determination and use of the potentials of existing and new data and process descriptions
to improve quantitative precipitation forecast. (III) Determination of the prognosis potential of weather forecast
models by statistico-dynamic analyses with respect to quantitative precipitation forecast.
A first comprehensive overview of the work accomplished in PP1167-PQP was presented in the first PQP special
issue of Meteorologische Zeitschrift Vol. 17, No. 6 from December 2008 (HENSE and WULFMEYER, 2008).
Meanwhile the total number of publications arising from the priority program has excceeded the benchmark of
100 articles including those which are presented in this second PQP special issue of Meteorologische Zeitschrift
(see Fig. 1).
In order to bundle the research efforts of more than 20 projects in the PP1167-PQP and to foster synergy effects
between the expertise of the various groups, steering committee decided to organize the different projects into four
categories. These are the topics:
1. Orography and convection
2. Data assimilation and stochastic system studies
3. Microphysics of clouds and aerosols
4. Verification
Topic 1 was chosen in view of two other international precipitation forecasting projects: IHOP in the US
focused on the physics and dynamics of precipitation in an essentially flat continental terrain and CSIP in the UK
focused on the physics and dynamics of precipitation during the transition of air masses from marine to continental
environments. The COPS experiment (WULFMEYER et al., 2008) in June, July and August 2007 and the GOP
(CREWELL et al., 2008) in 2007 have strongly contributed to Topic (1). Another special issue with 21 articles
dedicated to the results of COPS has recently been published in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological
Society (WULFMEYER et al., 2011). Within this second PQP special issue of Meteorologische Zeitschrift the reader
will find five articles which contribute to topic (1). The article by BARTHLOTT et al. (2011) evaluates the importance
of soil moisture in complex terrain upon deep convection. The contribution by KUNZ (2011) presents a conceptual
study of the life cycle of orographically triggered convection and precipitation. KÜLL and BOTT (2011) present
a novel parameterization of convection and its influence on the forecasts of precipitation. HERBORT and ETLING
(2011) analyse the spatio temporal structures of shower precipitation in forecasts and radar observations. Finally
RUPRECHT and KLEIN (2011) present a theoretical study of the interaction of gravity waves with convective clouds.
Topic 2 was selected based on the assumption that research at the interface of observations and dynamical
models using modern data assimilation techniques was still in the fledgling stages in Germany at the beginning of
the priority program in 2003/04. It is this desideratum that the respective research efforts were meant to counter.
Closely connected to the problem of data assimilation is the generation and interpretation of ensemble weather
forecasts. Accordingly the reader will find four articles in the present special issue: WEUSTHOFF et al. (2011)
deal with the problem of weighting single realisations of an ensemble forecast using observations while KEIL and
CRAIG (2011) study the growth of uncertainty and the predictibility of convective precipitation using ensemble
∗ Corresponding author: Andreas Hense, Meteorological Institute, University of Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 20, 53121 Bonn, Germany, e-mail: ahense@uni-
bonn.de
0941-2948/2011/0517 $ 1.35
DOI 10.1127/0941-2948/2011/0517 c○ Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart 2011

92 A. Hense & V. Wulfmeyer: Editorial Meteorol. Z., 20, 2011
Figure 1: Number of publications per year originating from the work in the PP1167-PQP
weather forecasts of the COSMO-DE model. ZUS et al. (2011) present an analysis of assimilating GPS based
water vapour information into the MM5 model. CLAUSSNITZER et al. (2011) present their results on the latent heat
nudging technique of radar observations into the COSMO regional weather forecast model.
Topic 3 was the smallest one with respect to the number of participating projects. Nevertheless it made important
contributions to the scientific objectives I and II stated above. This achievement became possible through the
international cooperation during the COPS campaign. Within this special issue the work by BÖHME et al. (2011a)
presents a verification analysis of regular COSMO forecasts using remote sensing observations concentrating on
the microphysical properties.
Topic 4 covered the validation of weather forecasts. Although this has been a key issue in operational
meteorology for decades, methods for validating ensemble forecasts and their so-called predictive probabilities
had not been investigated in depth before the start of the priority program. KELLER and HENSE (2011) present
a novel method to summarize the probabilistic quality of ensemble forecasts. Another point which had not been
fully addressed in literature was the validation of field data to make statements about the statistical comparison of
spatio-temporal structures or patterns in forecasts and observations. ZIMMER and WERNLI (2011) use specifically
designed metric to characterize the similarity or dissimilarity of precipitation forecasts and observations. A further
aspect was the need to validate weather forecasts and the respective models with respect to model physics or/and
to take advantage of the high spatio-temporal resolution of remote sensing instruments like radars or satellites in
combination with classical measurements. An application can be found in BÖHME et al. (2011b)
Again we are convinced that this second special issue of the Meteorologische Zeitschrift on quantitative
precipitation forecasting represents a highly advanced state of research on QPF and hope that it will find many
readers all over the world.
References
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Meteorol. Z., 20, 2011 A. Hense & V. Wulfmeyer: Editorial 93
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