East Asia and Western Pacific METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE

140
The Mesoscale Monitoring System of Rainstorms and Severe
Convective Weather Events in China
Zhou Xiuji
Ma Da-an
Ge Runsheng
Zhao Conglong
(Academy of Meteorological Science, Beijing)
Lu Daren
Lin Hai
(Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Beijing)
ABSTRACT
In this paper the development of weather radar, UHF
wind profile radar and microwave radiometer and its
application in China are described. The theoretical studies
on radiation transfer in atmosphere provide some new methods
to retrieve the temperature, humidity, column liquid water
in cloud and rainfall rate distribution. On the basis of
these results the mesoscale monitoring system of rainstorms
and severe convective weather events has been established in
Beijing Area.
Among numerous disastrous weather events in China,
heavy rain hailstorms, local strong winds and severe
thunderstorms mainly caused by small and mesoscale weather
systems are most destructive. During the last three
decades, although the capability and skill of large-scale
weather prediction have been brought to a high state of
development in China, the monitoring and forecasting the
small-and meso-scale weather systems producing major
damaging weather events has been improved only with limited
success. As the economic activities of all aspects rapidly
expand during the process of implementation of modernized
construction of China, the Chinese meteorologists already
made a plan 25 years ago to develop a warning system to
effectively monitor and predict the mesoscale disastrous
weather.
In 1985 a special Scientific Organizing and Advisory
Committee headed by the State Meteorological Administration
(SMA) was established to formulate a detail research plan
which is designated as the National Research and Operational
Program of the Monitoring System and the Very-short-range
prediction of the disastrous Weather in China (1986-1990)
[1]. According to this program four experimental areas have
been selected with high priorities for developing mesoscale
meteorology: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Beijing Area), Yangtze
River delta area (Shanghai area), Pearl River delta area
(Guangzhou area) .and.Sanxia'or Three Gorges district on
Yangtze River (Wuhan area) (Fig.l) These areas cover roughly
160,000, 70,000, 60,000, and 50,000 km respectively.