Abstract
During the three winter seasons between December 2021 and April 2024, a deployment of snow measurement instruments took place in the Northeast U.S. for the purpose of validating measurements from GPM satellites and examining error characteristics among different ground-based instruments. The deployed instruments include K- and W-band vertical pointing radars and Ka-Ku-band scanning radars, weighing and tipping bucket rain gauges, laser disdrometers, high speed and resolution cameras for quantitative precipitation measurements, weather stations, and a weather drone. After describing the instruments and the various types of measurements, the main problems that exist in the validation of satellite measurements will be discussed together with the implications that these measurements can have in terms of improved weather forecasting (through study of microphysics) and storm impact forecasting (through a better understanding of the relationships between weather variables and their effects).
Biografia
Dr. Diego Cerrai is Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut and Associate Director for Storm Preparedness and Emergency Management at the Eversource Energy Center. Dr. Cerrai's studies extend from basic research on precipitation microphysics to applied research on weather impact models, resilience, renewable energy, and justice in the energy transition. Dr. Cerrai has been instrumental in obtaining, as a manager or collaborator, $20 million for research and development from private companies and federal agencies. Impact prediction models developed in his lab are used by power companies in 11 of the 50 U.S. states and help improve the energy security of 25 million people. Specific projects include predicting outages in power transmission and distribution grids and their repair, forecasting energy demand, forecasting renewable energy integration, predicting tree knocking down, validating winter precipitation measurements, models for predicting wildfires, and supporting low-income communities in energy transition.