The use of meteorological radars in monitoring current weather conditions is crucial regarding the observation of the evolution and dissipation of thunderstorms. Thus, Doppler velocities being measured in each radar scan and velocity vectors derived from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models—that are usually not as highly resolving as radar scans—are combined, as a monitoring utility during the evolution of a convective weather event. The objective of this study is to develop a new method that allows the implementation of a thunderstorm movement velocity estimation technique combining block matching and optical flow techniques. This new method constitutes a nowcasting (NWC) application that enables the use of a single Doppler radar without the need of using NWPs. The method relies on the estimation of the thunderstorm movement vector velocities (Doppler velocity) for each constant altitude plan position indicator (CAPPI) and through correction for aliasing errors to obtain 3D vector velocity fields for convective systems. The performance of the method is evaluated for selected case studies of convective thunderstorms under different synoptic scale conditions over Greece, a geographical area with challenges in forecasting due to its sharp relief and the need for optimization of the use of radar products.

使用气象雷达监测当前天气状况对于观察雷暴的演变和消散至关重要。因此，每次雷达扫描中测量的多普勒速度和从数值天气预报 (NWP) 模型导出的速度矢量（通常不如雷达扫描分辨率高）相结合，作为对流天气事件演变过程中的监测实用程序。本研究的目的是开发一种新方法，结合块匹配和光流技术来实现雷暴运动速度估计技术。这种新方法构成了临近预报 (NWC) 应用，可以使用单个多普勒雷达，而无需使用 NWP。该方法依赖于每个恒定高度平面位置指示器（CAPPI）的雷暴运动矢量速度（多普勒速度）的估计，并通过混叠误差的校正来获得对流系统的3D矢量速度场。该方法的性能针对希腊不同天气尺度条件下的对流雷暴的选定案例研究进行了评估，希腊是一个地理区域，由于其急剧的地形起伏以及需要优化雷达产品的使用，在预报方面面临着挑战。