1.2 - INTERREG IIIB Alpine Space Programme

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environment and cultural heritage
Lead partner
Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie
und Geodynamik,
Regionalstelle für Salzburg
und Oberösterreich
Other partners
ZAMG Steiermark
ZAMG Kärnten
ZAMG Tirol und Vorarlberg
ARPA Veneto
ARPA FVG
Provincia A. di Trento
Hydro Bz
ARPA Lombardia
Regione Piemonte
Regione A. Valle d´Aosta
MeteoSwiss
Deutscher Wetterdienst
ARSO
Project website
www.meteorisk.info
Contact person
Michael Staudinger
Tel +43 (0)662 626301 24
Fax +43 (0)662 625838
Staudinger@zamg.ac.at
Duration
01.2003 – 06.2006
Total budget in EUR
1.901.684
ERDF in EUR
928.000
Lead partner
Project partner
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3.3
METEORISK
Mitigation of natural risks through improved forecasting
of extreme meteorological events
Coordination of weather warnings in the Alps with improved means of data acquisition and cooperation of weather services.
Aim
Extreme meteorological events originate in one part of the
Alps and proceed over or along the Alpine crest. The effects of
these events are inundations, landslides, avalanches, which
do not occur outside of the Alps. Forecasting is limited by the
lack of structured communication between the weather services
in these areas and the lack of online available data.
Objectives of the project were:
To create an online network of automatic meteorological stations
The improved interpretation of different regional models.
Optimised communication and networking between forecasters
The improvement of the interaction between the civil protection
authorities and the public
Activities
The weather services of the 14 partner regions from the Vienna
Woods and the Po Valley to the Zugspitze and the Swiss
mountain peaks have brought more than 70 scientists and
forecasters together. METEORISK coordinates warnings in
high mountain areas and around them. In the case of severe
weather telephone conferences and GIS Internet applications
are used to publish together the best results of forecasting
available throughout Europe.
Additionally new automatic weather stations, which include
the most advanced X-band radar systems, were built in the
areas that had little data coverage beforehand. A couple of
hundred automatic weather stations of other providers like
avalanche or environment services were integrated into the
system. Despite all the digital and logistical complexity behind
it, this website stands out for being easy to use, even for beginners
and lay users.
Outcomes and results
Within the weather services on all sides of the Alps the improvement
of the infrastructure has already led to a sustainable
optimisation of the forecast abilities and the transnational
communication facilities. The co-ordinated forecasting of
meteorological features in regions that cover more than one
forecast area with the help of different models has already
helped to mitigate the consequences of natural hazards and
disasters. The best example were the floods in Switzerland
and the western parts of Austria in the summer of 2005, where
forecast across the borders of Switzerland and Austria had
been coordinated and homogenised.
The number of stations accessible to the METEORISK forecasters
has increased to more than 1500 in February 2006.
Most of these stations are not owned by the weather services,
but part of the network is made available by avalanche services,
environmental protection agencies and energy suppliers.
It is planned, that certain parts of the partnership, like tel-
ephone conferences under critical meteorological conditions
in order to improve the forecast skill through the exchange of
experience will continue unchanged after the closure of the
project. Infrastructure like databanks and software tools will
be used by all partners in the future.
The extension of the applied techniques to other regions will
be part of the coherence and integration processes within the
weather services. The project EMMA (European Multipurpose
Meteorological Awareness) initiated by EUMENET, the association
of the European weather services, follows the ideas
developed within METEORISK.