A field campaign to study extreme rainfall is underway this summer, bringing together an international team of atmospheric experts in one of the wettest areas of the globe. Based out of western Taiwan and a southern island of Japan, the Prediction of Rainfall Extremes Campaign in the Pacific (PRECIP) research team, including experts from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), will be carefully collecting data and observations of the extreme storms and monsoons that are common in this region.

A new technique developed by NCAR uses artificial intelligence to efficiently update the vegetation maps that are relied on by wildfire computer models to accurately predict fire behavior and spread.

This summer’s western wildfire season is likely to be more severe than average but not as devastating as last year’s near-record, according to an experimental prediction method developed by NCAR scientists.

As wildfires threaten much of the West during another hot and dry year, NCAR scientists are researching key aspects of these destructive events.

A project at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), called 3D-PAWS (3D-Printed Automatic Weather Station), is adding a new set of remote-sensing capabilities that will measure streamflow, storm surges, and snowfall depth to its suite of successful 3D-printed weather stations. This initiative will bring low-cost remote sensing instruments to the world’s “unseen” areas.