Hands-on Sessions

Reading the Radar: A hands-on guide to what weather radar sees and misses

Presenter: Sebastian Torres, University of Oklahoma

This practical introduces participants to the fundamentals of weather-radar interpretation through interactive, no-code JupyterLite notebooks. Using slider-driven exercises, participants will explore how beam geometry and terrain blockage, resolution and sensitivity, range folding and velocity aliasing, wavelength and attenuation trade-offs, scan strategies, and dual-polarisation measurements shape what a radar can and cannot observe. The session links familiar radar-display features to the underlying radar physics and system-design choices. Exercises are structured at three levels, from basic interpretation to deeper technical exploration, so no prior radar experience is required, and there is substance for experienced radar users as well. Each block closes with a discussion around a real radar case. The notebooks run entirely in the participant's web browser with nothing to install, and do not depend on a stable connection once loaded. Participants should bring a laptop and, if possible, open the notebook links in advance.

Satellite nowcasting of convection

Presenters: Chris Taylor and Jawairia Ahmad, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

This practical will introduce participants to real-time satellite nowcasting of convection using the UKCEH Nowcasting Portal. Participants will work with observational layers of the surface and atmosphere, along with model guidance to predict convective development over the next few hours.

The session will focus on how satellite observations, land-surface information, and short-range prediction tools can be combined to monitor and anticipate convective storms. 

Flexweb tutorial

Presenters: Blaž Gasparini, University of Vienna, with Marina Dütsch 

This practical will introduce participants to Flexweb, a web-based interface for working with FLEXPART atmospheric transport modelling tools. The session is intended to be accessible to participants with limited local computing resources, using a browser-based workflow rather than requiring everyone to install or run a full modelling system locally.

The planned format is hybrid: Marina Dütsch would provide the main Flexweb expertise online, while Blaž Gasparini facilitates the session in Nairobi. 

Analyzing MesoNHforC2OMODO simulations of deep convection

Presenter: Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, University of Toulouse / CNRS / IRD

This practical will guide participants through analysis of deep-convection simulations from the Meso-NH database for C2OMODO. Participants will work with model output and pseudo-observation variables, including 3D winds, cloud and precipitation fields, radar reflectivity, and infrared/microwave brightness temperatures.

The session is built around a Jupyter notebook using standard Python tools such as xarray, matplotlib, and numpy. Participants should bring their own laptops and have enough basic Python/Jupyter familiarity to run the notebook. Internet access will be needed to download NetCDF files from the C2OMODO database.

Drones and ground-based instruments in field campaigns

Presenter: Susan van den Heever, Colorado State University

This practical would focus on how targeted field-campaign observing systems can be used to study severe convection in Africa. Likely content would include drones or UAS platforms, deployable surface instruments, ground-based observing networks, and how these measurements complement satellite missions such as INCUS.

The practical could frame how field observations help diagnose storm initiation, organisation, intensity, cold pools, boundary-layer structure, and severe-weather hazards in data-sparse regions. It would fit naturally with Susan’s keynote on African severe convective storms and the NASA INCUS mission.

km-scale climate modeling session

Presenter: Kristen Rasmussen, Colorado State University

This practical will introduce participants to the use of kilometre-scale climate models for studying high-impact weather and climate processes. The session will focus on how high-resolution simulations can help represent organised convection, extreme rainfall, storm environments, and related hazards.

Participants will learn how km-scale model output can be interpreted in a research or forecasting context, and how these simulations can support questions around severe weather, future climate risk, and prediction in data-sparse regions. The session will also highlight the strengths and limitations of km-scale modelling compared with coarser modelling approaches.