WMO Global Campus Collection of Learning Resources

This online learning module introduces the fundamentals of radar meteorology and its applications in various meteorological scenarios. It begins with a challenging pre-quiz designed to activate prior knowledge and prepare learners for the subsequent practical exercises. This is followed by three different meteorological case studies in which learners must apply their newly acquired knowledge and make decisions similar to those they might encounter in their daily work. Finally, learners must be able to differentiate between meteorological and non-meteorological returns. The corrective and supportive feedback provided throughout the module helps learners to overcome the challenges more easily in subsequent tries.

By completing this e-learning course, participants will improve their knowledge and skills in the following areas, which are:

BIP-M (WMO doc. 1083)

• Use knowledge of the physical principles of weather radar to explain limitations due to precipitation size, phase changes and the attenuation effects of meteorological conditions and non-meteorological targets. 
• Describe how radar data may be processed to mitigate attenuation, produce composite data from a network of radars and create quantitative estimates of precipitation rate and type, wind, etc.
• Select the most relevant radar-derived imagery (including dual-polarized imagery if available) to supplement other forms of data in the given synoptic and mesoscale situation and the meteorological problem under consideration.

 From the Radar Skills and Kowledge for Operational Meteorologists (WMO doc. 1209)

1. Analyse reflectivity products of radar;
2. Analyse polarimetric radar products;
3. Identify non-meteorological targets;
4. Perform nowcasting.