Measurements of sub-daily (e.g. hourly) rainfall totals are essential if we are to understand short, intense bursts of rainfall that cause flash floods. We might expect the intensity of such events to increase in a warming climate but these are poorly realised in projections of future climate change. The INTENSE project is collating a global dataset of hourly rainfall measurements and linking with new developments in climate models to understand the characteristics and causes of these events. Hide

The adjustment of bias, i.e., systematic errors, of climate models are a necessity when comparing results of an ensemble of these models. Usually, the meteorological parameters such as temperature or rainfall amounts themselves are subject to bias adjustments. We present a new method to apply bias adjustment to so-called climate indicators which are derived from those parameters, e.g., the number of days warmer than 30 °C or the number of days with more than 20 mm of rain. Hide

An online survey was used to map the needs and preferences of the Finnish general public about extended-range forecasts and their presentation. Survey results guided the co-design process of novel extended-range forecasts in the project. The respondents considered that the tailored extended-range forecasts would be beneficial in planning activities, preparing for weather risks and scheduling everyday life. They also valued impact information higher than advice on how to prepare for the impacts. Hide

The Wind and Storms Experiment (WASTEX) was conducted during the winter 2016–2017 in the Upper Rhine Valley to better understand the formation of wind gusts during the passage of storms. The key instrument of the field campaign was a scanning Doppler lidar, which provides accurate wind observations along its beam with high spatial and temporal resolutions and within a range of several km. Results from WASTEX should help improving the representation of wind gusts in weather and climate models. Hide

Global radiation forecasts by HARMONIE-AROME numerical weather prediction model were compared to observations over Finland in spring 2017 when convective clouds, rain and snow showers were frequent. In HARMONIE-AROME, three different schemes for parametrization of the atmospheric radiation transfer are available. Differences between the schemes and observations showed up especially as variations in the hourly scale. The results by the schemes were closer to each other than to the observations. Hide

This paper presents the results of using two methods of climatic zoning for construction in the southern regions of Chile. Based on the degree-days method, the boundaries of the thermal zones of the Government of Chile, which have not been updated since 1999, have been updated. The relative energy consumption levels of buildings in winter and summer periods for heating and cooling were analyzed in each thermal zone. Hide

Our approach allows estimating the total photovoltaic (PV) power generation in different European countries from meteorological data. It is aimed at being easy to implement since it does not require any plant information or prior knowledge on the installed PV plants. Hide

During recent years the strong decrease in the prices of solar panels has lead to an increasing interest in harvesting solar energy. In this paper solar radiation forecasts from a global and a regional numerical weather prediction model are compared. The result is that regional ensemble models can indeed provide added value compared to global models when it comes to forecasting solar radiation available for power production. Hide

Globally we are facing both an air quality crisis and a communication emergency. Communication efforts so far have been based on a one-way provision of information from experts to society, and have arguably failed in their mission to foster a more engaged society, or to result in cleaner air. This paper supports the case for moving away from one-way communication, and identifies five benefits of a practical two-way communication between experts and citizens in order to engender positive change. Hide

Measuring solar radiation and analysing its interaction with clouds are essential for the understanding of the climate system. Trends in EUMETSAT CM SAF satellite-based climate data records of solar radiation and clouds are analysed during 1992–2015 in Europe. More surface solar radiation and less top-of-atmosphere reflected radiation and cloud cover is found. This study indicates that one of the main reasons for the positive trend in surface solar radiation is a decrease in cloud cover. Hide

There is a limited knowledge on impacts of Climate Services in Africa. This paper analyses the impacts that agrometeorological services have for smallholder farmers in a typical rainfed staple crop production system of West Africa. The results show that such services enable farmers to mitigate some climatic risks and to optimize the inputs use efficiency. The final outcome is an increase of crop yield and an economic benefit compared to farmers that does not use the services. Hide