BALTRAD is an advanced weather radar network for the Baltic Sea Region. This network exchanges data from the existing weather radars in the region and processes the data using a common software toolbox. The BALTRAD network is decentralized, preserving the partnerships transnational integrity. BALTRAD delivers value-added precipitation information to improve our ability to monitor rain and snow, and to improve short-term weather forecasts.
The BALTRAD project team consists of partners in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Germany, Denmark, and Norway. The complete partnership also contains Russia and Ukraine.
Radar information helps to improve public safety and BALTRAD increases current network coverage and quality of information using advanced methods. It offers customized tools to integrate the real-time weather forecasts to improve decision making systems and processes. Main sectors which can benefit from applying BALTRAD services are transport (road, rail, sea, and air), local rescue services, hydropower industry, agriculture and flash flooding, storm water and urban hydrology.
Ground precipitation information is most important weather information for society and wide range of economy sectors. For an example, precipitation and wind speed and direction are the parameters in greatest demand from weather radar systems. Media’s interest in weather information increases when natural hazards and catastrophes occur. Weather radar data is very powerful in capturing hazardous meteorological phenomena, like tornadoes, heavy storms, especially presented as animated image sequences showing current and predicted conditions.
Since 2012 the project has developed and deployed the BALTRAD system which is the world’s most advanced international weather radar network. The project has endeavoured to include all data from all weather radars in each country in the partnership, and these data are exchanged in real time.
Radar Animation
In 2012 a radar-based Risk Assessment Map (RAM) for urban flooding was developed by Aalborg University as a tailored BALTRAD end-user product. The idea behind the application is that the RAM should support the daily routines in urban drainage management by facilitating an easy access to radar-based observations. The RAM is based on a combination of radar and rain gauge data. Additional urban-hydrology applications have since been developed, e.g. using BALTRAD as a “back end” to supply a decision-support tool with radar-based precipitation information in Århus and Copenhagen.
Also through hard work and outstanding performance, the BALTRAD toolbox has been deployed operationally by EUMETNET OPERA’s radar data centre Odyssey to perform quality control on all European input data prior to the generation of continental-scale radar composite products. These products are used by the national meteorological and hydrological institutes and by researchers in e.g. the HAREN (Hazard Assessment based on Rainfall European Nowcasts).