Weather Radar Workshop 2021
The Weather Radar Workshop 2021 was held by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) from 8 to 10 November as a platform for the sharing of expertise in radar meteorology, including related application to disaster risk reduction and state-of-the-art technology in the field of radar observation among National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in Asia.
The event was a follow-up to the Weather Radar Seminar held in Tokyo in November 2019, and was attended by 24 representatives from six NMHSs: the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD), the Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) and the Viet Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration (VNMHA). Present from Japan were representatives from JMA and its Meteorological Research Institute (MRI), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and four radar manufacturers (FURUNO ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Japan Radio Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation), with observation by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The workshop covered various weather radar areas including the benefits of the latest dual-pole solid-state radars as well as radar application to the hydrological and aviation fields, and also incorporated a lidar presentation by Japan attendees. Presentations were also given by NHMS representatives on current situations, experiences and challenges, with participants extensively discussing weather radar, lidar and related technologies after each one. The first and second days also featured an online technical tour of a radar manufacturing factory in Nagano and of JMA’s operational radar in Aichi. The last day was marked by lively discussions on weather radar data quality development focusing on interference echo removal. It was recognized that interference is a common issue affecting NMHSs, and that their experience should be shared continuously for collaborative improvement in weather radar observation.
