Lead: Rob Rogers

The U.S. NSF has recently funded a project entitled Prediction of Rainfall Extremes Campaign in the Pacific (PRECIP), led by Michael Bell and Kristen Rasmussen (Colorado State University), which seeks to improve the fundamental understanding and predictability of the processes that produce extreme precipitation through an ingredients-based physical framework. Research observations will be collected during four event types that meet a global definition of ‘extreme’ rainfall across the spectrum of rainfall intensity and duration: (1) deep convective cores, (2) wide convective cores, (3) broad stratiform regions, and (4) tropical cyclones (TCs; termed “typhoons” in the West Pacific).

PRECIP will be conducted in collaboration with the Taiwan-area Atmospheric and Hydrological Observation and Prediction Experiment (TAHOPE) and Japanese Tropical cyclones-Pacific Asian Research Campaign for Improvement of Intensity estimations/forecasts (T-PARCII). Due to Covid-19, the field phase of this joint field campaign was postponed until the spring and summer of next year (2021).  Ground-based assets involved in data collection include dual-frequency/dual-polarization radar, disdrometers, and profilers, while airborne assets include the Taiwanese Dotstar and Japanese G-II aircraft.  The NOAA P-3 aircraft will not be available for airborne missions in support of this campaign next year. The extreme rainfall and typhoon reconnaissance effort during the period leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will provide a focal point for an education and outreach effort promoting the positive role of international science collaboration to address global problems such as extreme weather.