Research activities at CETEMPS span several themes and is mainly focused on the study of atmospheric phenomena and their effect on climate and soils. In general, these activities are carried out using numerical models and observational data. In the following we briefly detail the activities of the Centre:
Meterological modelling: meteorological model are now reagared as an essential tool for weather prediction. For example, their skill is crucial for prompt alerts by the Civil Protection in case of hydro geological risks due to abundant precipitation. The choice of the model matters. A model allowing for a broad selection of parameterization such as cloud microphysics, soil modelling or radiative transfer in the atmosphere, and the possibility of directly modifying the code, is the optimal choice to reproduce the local climatic characteristics of the area of interest. CETEMPS run daily the Mesoscale Model version 5 (MM5), developed at the Penn State University and National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU/NCAR), with an horizontal resolution of 27 km on the national scale, 9 km on Central Italy and 3 km on the Abruzzi region, providing technical support to the Department of Civil Protection of the Abruzzi region. Other meteorological support activities are carried out for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for the launch of stratospheric balloons. The meteorological research at CETEMPS is mainly focused on the dynamical and thermodynamical study at high-resolution of convective cells, on GPS and satellite data assimilation, and on the development of MM5-MARS for the atmosphere of Mars. Moreover, it produces experimental weather forecast with remote sensing data assimilation up to the urban scale (0.5 km) over Lazio, Abruzzi and Marche regions.
Hydrological modelling: the coupling of hydrological and meteorological or climate models has two key applications. First, the possibility of forecasting flood events after severe weather events, and second the possibility of studying the details of climate change effects on the hydrological cycle. Among research activities, the most important is the development of a new hydrological model called CETEMPS HYdroplogical Model (CHYM).
Air quality modelling: deterministic models of atmospheric chemistry and transport are among the most useful tools to study and monitor air quality. These models reproduces with satisfactory skills the concentrations of pollutants observed by monitoring stations and can be used to diagnose air quality where observations are not available. Moreover, models are the only tools able to give short-term prediction of the state of air quality aimed at reducing the detrimental effects of pollution on human health. One of CETEMPS’ project concern the development of an operational “chemical” weather forecast system. The model is currently based on the chemistry-transport model (CTM) CHIMERE, developed in France, and the meteorological model MM5. The output are maps of particulate (PM10 and PM2.5) and gases (ozone and nitrogen dioxide) over a wide European region.
Climate Change studies: the average behaviour of the atmosphere at high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere has undergone significant variations during the last decades. The seasonal decrease of the ozone column has reached 50% in the month of October during the 90’s and the phenomenon called Antarctic “Ozone Hole” reached record size during spring of 2000. Other changes are evident over the Antarctic surface: the Antarctic Peninsula has been warming by several degrees during the last decades, while the inner regions of the continent display an opposite trend, with a slight cooling. Moreover, there are experimental evidences of the decreased extension of ice-shelf in the Eastern seas of the Peninsula. At CETEMPS, atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs) are exploited to point out the causes of the undergoing changes. In particular, the focus is on potential relationships between the Antarctic climate change and the variability of the tropical sea surface temperature.
Satellite remote sensing: satellite observations have a continuously growing importance in the atmosphere and ocean sciences. CETEMPS, by means of an antenna located at the Science Faculty of Coppito, receives directly and processes in real time the data observed by the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. The satellite images of detectors such as the Special Seonsor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) or other sensors onboard CloudSat, Calipso, Envisat and others, are regularly collected and processed at CETEMPS for several applications. Moreover, CETEMPS participates to research activities with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA), and also proposes new satellite missions such as the "Costellazione FLOreale micro-satellitare di RADiometri in banda millimetrica per l’Osservazione della Terra e dello spazio a scala regionale" (FLORAD).
Ground observations: ground observations allow sontinuous monitoring of climatic conditiona at specific places. CETEMPS manages a broad variety of such instruments. A meteorological radar that allows continuous monitoring of precipitations on a large part of Central Italy and in particular over the Abruzzi region. A weather station that monitors surface temperature, pressure, relative humidity, UV index, etc. A radiosounding and ozonosounding station near L’Aquila for the measurement of profiles of temperature, pressure, relative humidity and ozone concentration. At same site, two Lidars are installed for the measurement of profiles of aerosol concentration, ozone density, water vapour and liquid water content in clouds. CETEMPS also develops a Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) system to measure nitrogen dioxide, nitrate preoxyde, alkyl nitrates and nitric acid. This instrument was used in the Oxidant and Particle Photochemical Processes above a South-East Asian tropical rain forest (OP3) in the Borneo forest (Malaysia) and it is now installed onboard the UK atmospheric research plane BAe-146. Moreover, the personnel often collaborates to observational campaign at national and international levels, such as: Radiative Heating in Underexplored Bands Campaign (RHUBC) along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska; Program for Research on Oxidants: Photochemistry, Emissions, and Transport (PROPHET) in a Michigan forest near Great Lakes (USA); Airborne Platform for Earth Observation (APE) performed for several years at Arctic, Antarctic and tropical latitudes.