RadClim BSR - Towards a Radar-based Precipitation Climatology for the Baltic Sea Region

Project Background: The RadClim BSR project aims to establish the feasibility of developing a radar-based precipitation climatology in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). The project involves partners in countries across the BSR including Sweden, Estonia and Poland. The status of radar data archiving, utility of the data, and any data harmonisation requirements across the partner countries and the BSR in general are being investigated. Partners in Sweden, Estonia and Poland are acting as country coordinators, reaching out to a large range of actors to thoroughly explore their needs pertaining to radar climatology, utilising a user needs survey (ongoing through spring 2023). Consultations with the national weather services in Germany and Finland, who have already undertaken steps in radar climatology development, are aiding in ensuring best practices are adhered to. This seed project has the intention of laying the framework for the full development of a radar climatology (datasets and visualisations) spanning the BSR, relevant for a large range of actors in the near future.

EMS contribution: At EMS 2023, we will present the results of the user needs survey that was distributed to a wide range of relevant actors in the project partner countries of Sweden, Estonia and Poland. The surveys were translated into each countries official language before being distributed, to maximise participation and ensure all representatives who should offer their perspective could, regardless of English language capacity. The survey results demonstrate user group priorities for the development of such a radar based precipitation dataset and tool, in terms of both content and format. Through to the end of the project in early 2024, the results from this survey will be fully summarised and will then form the basis for the future development of a trans-national radar-based precipitation climatology across the entire BSR.