China develops water cycle detection system for accurate weather forecast

HEFEI -- Chinese scientists have developed a comprehensive and reliable water cycle detection system, which facilitates the observation and forecast of extreme weather.

A research team of the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has developed the system comprising of laser radars, cloud cover observation and precipitation detectors to collect data on atmospheric water vapor profile, cloud and precipitation.

Previously, there were no devices available in China to trace the comprehensive water cycle system among land, sea and air, which plays an important role in climate regulation and energy exchange.

Liu Dong, chief scientist of the research based in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, said the system was designed with high temporal resolution observation to make around-the-clock detection, which can transmit accurate real-time data to weather stations.

The detection system provided stable performance when it was applied for this year's weather forecast service for the "two sessions" political meetings in Beijing in March.

The team plans to expand the research to cover more weather-related areas, such as accurate rainfall forecast, precise weather monitoring and weather warning for airport take-off and landing.