Taiwan area heavy rain observation and prediction experiment (TAHOPE): overview and some scientific results

Abstract “Taiwan Area Heavy rain Observation and Prediction Experiment” (TAHOPE) was originally planned to be conducted from August 2019 to July 2022 to study Mei-Yu fronts, mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), landfalling typhoons and afternoon thunderstorms near Taiwan. The Prediction of Rainfall Extremes Campaign In the Pacific (PRECIP) team in the United States of America (USA) and the Tropical cyclone-Pacific Asian Research Campaign for Improvement of Intensity estimations/forecasts (T-PARCII) team in Japan joined the TAHOPE team to conduct an international field experiment over northern Taiwan and Yonaguni Island from late May to early August 2020. The main themes of TAHOPE range from large-scale environmental influence, mesoscale convective systems as well as microscale cloud physics processes, under the special topography of Taiwan Island with steep terrain. To accomplish this international observation and forecast experiments, the TAHOPE project office was established to integrate the available observation instruments in Taiwan under the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The observation platforms (NOAA P3-aircraft, NCAR S-Pol radar, and CSU SEA-Pol radar) from the USA will combine with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB; Central Weather Administration, official name updated after 2024) operational facilities (radars, radiosondes, and DOSTAR dropsondes), and the atmospheric measurement (wind profiler) from the National Applied Research Laboratory (NARL) to perform intense field observations. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic after February 2020, the deployment of S-Pol radar observation and intense upper-air measurements were delayed for two years. The field observations were conducted in Taiwan from 25 May to 10 August of 2022, but the NOAA P3 aircraft observations were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unforeseen aircraft mechanic issues.