Characterizing hail-prone environments using convection-permitting reanalysis and overshooting top detections over south-central Europe
-
Published:2024-07-12
Issue:7
Volume:24
Page:2331-2357
-
ISSN:1684-9981
-
Container-title:Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.
Author:
Giordani AntonioORCID, Kunz MichaelORCID, Bedka Kristopher M.ORCID, Punge Heinz Jürgen, Paccagnella TizianaORCID, Pavan Valentina, Cerenzia Ines M. L., Di Sabatino SilvanaORCID
Abstract
Abstract. The challenges associated with reliably observing and simulating hazardous hailstorms call for new approaches that combine information from different available sources, such as remote sensing instruments, observations, or numerical modelling, to improve understanding of where and when severe hail most often occurs. In this work, a proxy for hail frequency is developed by combining overshooting cloud top (OT) detections from the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) weather satellite with convection-permitting High rEsolution ReAnalysis over Italy (SPHERA) reanalysis predictors describing hail-favourable environmental conditions. Atmospheric properties associated with ground-based reports from the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) are considered to define specific criteria for data filtering. Five convection-related parameters from reanalysis data quantifying key ingredients for hailstorm occurrence enter the filter: most unstable convective available potential energy (CAPE), K index, surface lifted index, deep-layer shear, and freezing-level height. A hail frequency estimate over the extended summer season (April–October) in south-central Europe is presented for a test period of 5 years (2016–2020). OT-derived hail frequency peaks at around 15:00 UTC in June–July over the pre-Alpine regions and the northern Adriatic Sea. The hail proxy statistically matches with ∼63 % of confirmed ESWD reports, which is roughly 23 % more than the previous estimate over Europe coupling deterministic satellite detections with coarser global reanalysis ambient conditions. The separation of hail events according to their severity highlights the enhanced appropriateness of the method for large-hail-producing hailstorms (with hailstone diameters ≥ 3 cm). Further, signatures for missed small-hail occurrences are identified, which are characterized by lower instability and organization and warmer cloud top temperatures.
Funder
European Commission
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Reference139 articles.
1. Adams-Selin, R. D. and Ziegler, C. L.: Forecasting hail using a one-dimensional hail growth model within WRF, Mon. Weather Rev., 144, 4919–4939, 2016. a 2. Adler, R. F., Markus, M. J., and Fenn, D. D.: Detection of severe Midwest thunderstorms using geosynchronous satellite data, Mon. Weather Rev., 113, 769–781, 1985. a 3. Allen, J., Giammanco, I., Kumjian, M., Jurgen Punge, H., Zhang Q., Groenemeijer, P., Kunz, M., and Ortega, K.: Understanding Hail in the Earth System, Rev. Geophys., 58, e2019RG000665, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019RG000665, 2020. a, b, c, d, e, f, g 4. Allen, J. T. and Allen, E. R.: A review of severe thunderstorms in Australia, Atmos. Res., 178, 347–366, 2016. a 5. Allen, J. T., Tippett, M. K., and Sobel, A. H.: An empirical model relating US monthly hail occurrence to large-scale meteorological environment, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 7, 226–243, 2015. a, b
|
|