NAWDIC-HALO workshop at IMK-TRO

The North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion and Downstream Impact Campaign (NAWDIC) is an international effort for an airborne field campaign focusing on atmospheric dynamics. Its overarching aim  is to advance our understanding of the synoptic- to micro-scale dynamical and physical processes associated with the triggering of severe wind gusts, heavy precipitation, and cold air outbreaks in the North Atlantic, Euro-Mediterranean region and of their representation in numerical weather prediction models. Lead by a team from IMK-TRO at KIT, and supported by Waves to Weather, NAWDIC is scheduled to take place in winter 2025/2026.

To advance the preparation of the deployment of the German “High Altitude and long Range Aircraft” (HALO) during NAWDIC and to foster the NAWDIC-HALO community, instrument scientists as well as atmospheric scientists from 7 research institutes gathered for a one day workshop at IMK-TRO. Talks on the planning status of NAWDIC helped to update everybody about the aims of the campaign. Talks dedicated to instruments onboard HALO provided valuable information for the design of flight strategies. Key outcome of the workshop is that we now formed a community around the NAWDIC-HALO component consisting of scientists from various institutions and universities in Germany and beyond. Furthermore, we and agreed on the instrumentation for NAWDIC-HALO and the design of the roadmap towards the actual campaign implementation. A next major step till be the international coordination of further NAWDIC components which will be part of a follow-up workshop at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading on 30 June 2023.