MAP -  One of the largest ever conducted field experiments in the Alps


From 7 September to 15 November 1999 the weather in the whole Alpine region will be observed with 
special attention. For the ten weeks field Campaign of MAP so-called target areas have been selected, which 
are particularly suited for the observation of the phenomena under consideration. These areas will be 
equipped with observational devices of most advanced technology. 
The region of the the Lago Maggiore to the South of the Alps is climatologically prone to heavy 
precipitation during the months of fall. During the field campaign, a French and a US research weather radar 
are set up south of the Lago Maggiore, which, in combination with the operational Swiss radar on Monte 
Lema, will allow to analyse precipitation producing weather systems in depth. These measurements are 
complemented by a full network of additional systems like radiosondes and windprofilers which allow to 
determine the vertical structure of the atmosphere. 
In order to investigate the Foehn winds, the Rhinve Valley between the town of Chur and the Lake 
of Constance will be instrumented with a uniquely  dense network of radiosounding stations. Complemented 
by windprofilers and lidars, it will be possible to explore the 3-dimensional structure in the Valley and above 
crest height of the ambient mountain chains. 
A similar set-up is realized in the Wipp Valley, from the Brenner Pass down to the town of Innsbruck. 
Specific Foehn phenomena are again at the focus of the scientific investigations.

The ground-based instruments are supported by a fleet of 8 aircraft. Some of them carry lidars and radars 
for remote sensing of the airflow in a large atmospheric volume. These aircraft will fly within and around 
intense rainfall, wind and turbulence events, in order to collect the oroginal measurements needed to 
improve our understanding of the phenomena.

Many of the major aircraft and ground-based systems have travelled a long way to the Alps with the aim to 
form an unprecendented composite systems to create a maximum benefit for all partners.
The European organisation for the operation of meteorological satellites (EUMETSAT) has made 
available its stand-by spacecraft METEOSAT 6 for special use by MAP: On request the Alpine area can be 
imaged at 5 minute intervals by a rapid scan operation mode which gives a much higher frequency than the 
nominal half-houly scans.  

Several temporary centers have been set up to coordinate the effort. 
The MAP Operations Centre (MOC), installed at and near Innsbruck airport, will be the main 
centre of decision, and the main concentration of research airplanes. Decisions will be supported by a 
dedicated forecasting team formed by forecasters of the various participating countries. 
The Project Operations Centre (POC), hosted by the Italian Meteorological Service at Milano-
Linate airport, will be the base for additional airplanes, and support the operations by concentrating a large 
number a ground based radar data and producing in real time a three-dimensional map of the cloud systems, 
with half hourly updates. Based on this information, airplanes will be guided to the most interesting places.
This centre will also run a hydrological model in real time.
A Coordination Centre for the activities in the Rhine valley (COC) is set-up in Bad Ragaz 
(Switzerland).
All data collected collected during the field phase will be transmitted in near real time to the MAP 
Data Center hosted by the ETH in Zurich, where a number of products and synthetic maps will be 
produced for distribution to the scientists and forecasters.