Analysis of Severe Convective Storms in Central Europe Measured by Mobile Weather Radars

Mobile weather radars are widely used for monitoring convective storms, particularly in the United States, where they represent an essential part of scientific field campaigns and research projects. In Europe, however, their use remains limited, even though mobile radars have potential applications in many areas beyond research, and could significantly support operational forecasting and the issuance of weather warnings.
The company Meteopress has developed two mobile weather radars: an X-band radar (MeteoRover X-class) and a C-band radar (MeteoRover C-class), both of which were tested during 2025 and 2026. The testing included hardware and software aspects and derived weather products (such as hydrometeor classification). During the campaign, IQ data was also recorded for the development of new signal processing methods.
The MeteoRover X-class operates at a frequency of 9.410 GHz and is equipped with a 1.2-meter antenna with a gain of 39 dBi. This configuration allows the radar to be used both for operational warning purposes and for scientific applications, including the testing of new algorithms, while enabling continuous operation for 6 to 10 hours depending on the selected scanning strategy. The MeteoRover C-class operates at a frequency of 5.590 GHz and features a 2.4-meter antenna with a gain of 40 dBi. The beamwidth of both radars is 1.7°, which allows for closely comparable measurements when both systems are configured similarly.
During the summer of 2025, several cases of strong convective storms over the Czech Republic were successfully observed. The measurements included testing various radar configurations, such as different scanning strategies, pulse repetition frequency settings, and pulse lengths. At the same time, we focused on meteorological products calculated at high spatial resolution, ranging from 25 to 100 meters depending on the application. Five scanning strategies were implemented, each designed for a specific measurement objective, such as microphysical characterization or low-level wind shear detection, and adapted to the distance of the observed storms. This included adjustments not only to elevation angles but also to pulse length and other radar parameters. Similar measurement activities are continuing in 2026.
This poster presents not only the current technical design of the mobile radar systems but also examples of the collected data, comparisons between the two radars, and detailed analyses of selected cases using derived products such as hydrometeor classification.