Atmospheric Rivers

Have you ever wondered what an Atmospheric River is or how to recognize it in model or satellite data? The freshly released training module will assist you by guiding you step by step through the identification process.

First you will learn some basic facts on Atmospheric Rivers; how and where they are created, their typical characteristics and their appearance in satellite and model data. Step by step, you will then be guided through the identification process until you are certain that you are dealing with the phenomenon that is called an Atmospheric River.

Later stages of Atmospheric Rivers are sometimes tricky to identify as they are often merged with mid-latitude frontal systems. But here again, model fields and the timely evolution can give a precise answer whether there is an embedded AR or not.

And finally, it is well invested time going through this training module as ARs are responsible for many floods and heavy precipitation in Western Europe once they make a landfall.