13th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms

Understanding and predicting the kinetic and climatic behavior of hazardous storms within the greater Mediterranean basin requires a continuous emphasis on measuring. Methods and designs of measuring systems and of gathering measurements, plus the methodologies and results of diagnostic analysis and nowcasting involving the complete range of storm observations are the foci of the session on Monitoring of Mediterranean Storms. This session solicits papers and posters on all types of measurements and measurement analysis concerning in situ and remotely sensed observations from ground-based systems, aircraft- / balloon-based systems, and space-based systems. We especially wish to emphasize results concerning integrated observing systems designed to capture the multi-parameter nature of storms in both their transient states and their long-term climatic states. The Plinius 13 Conference is placing a much greater emphasis on climate than past conferences, so that papers and posters relating to the climatic factors of Mediterranean storms, insofar as monitoring and observation, will be used to balance the session in conjunction with papers relating to the weather aspects of storms and storm consequences. Thus, the session will serve as a forum for communicating research findings concerning the use of observations from satellite, aircraft, balloon, and ground platforms for an improved understanding of the physics, structure, life-cycle, and climate dynamics of Mediterranean storms and related topics. Authors are invited to consider the complete array of measuring systems from ground-based and aircraft-based radar, ground-based and satellite-based lightning sensors, and satellite-based shortwave, longwave, passive microwave, and radar imagery or soundings. In addition, as in recent Plinius Conferences, we continue to solicit papers and posters that concern assessing and understanding the human impact of hazardous storms while keeping with the topics of measuring and monitoring.