国立研究開発法人防災科学技術研究所 水・土砂防災研究部門
国立研究開発法人防災科学技術研究所 水・土砂防災研究部門
トップ 一覧 検索 ヘルプ RSS ログイン

TOMACS

Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS)

 Final report

Misumi, R., Y. Shoji, K. Saito, H. Seko, N. Seino, S. Suzuki, Y. Shusse, K. Hirano, S. Belair, V. Chandrasekar, D. Lee, A. Pereira Filho, T. Nakatani, and M. Maki, 2019: Results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0316.1

 Objectives

An unprecedented dense observation campaign and relevant modeling and societal studies have been conducted since April 2010 by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Meteorological Research Institute (MRI), and more than 25 national institutions and universities in Japan that target local high-impact weather (LHIW) in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The objectives of the project, the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS), include

  • Elucidation of the mechanism of LHIW in urban areas (e.g., local torrential rain, flash flood, strong wind, lightening),
  • Improvement of nowcasting and forecasting techniques of LHIW,
  • The implementation of high resolution weather information to end-users through social experiments.

TOMACS was approved as the Research and Development Project (RDP) of the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at a meeting of the Joint Scientific Committee of WWRP from 18 - 19 July 2013. The study period of TOMACS is until December 2016.

For the study of the mechanism of LHIW in the domestic TOMACS, data are used from the advanced observational instruments owned by participating organizations (including X-band and C-band polarimetric radars, a Ku-band fast scanning radar, Doppler lidars, microwave radiometers, a network of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), radiosondes and unmanned aerial vehicles), which are currently deployed in the Tokyo metropolitan area in addition to the operational observation networks of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT) of Japan. The intensive operational period (IOP) of the observations was set to the summers of 2011, 2012 and 2013. All observed data are archived for studies on LHIW.

To improve the nowcasting/forecasting techniques of LHIW, data acquired by the observation networks are also used. The X-band radars observed rainfall with 250-m resolution at 1-minute intervals. Numerical weather predictions are conducted with cloud resolving models by assimilating the meteorological data observed by several radars, lidars, GPS and radiosondes to examine how much the dense observation data can improve LHIW forecasting for urban areas.
The high resolution data and forecast information from TOMACS are provided to end-users to reduce disasters caused by LHIW. For this purpose, social experiments in near real-time have been conducted. The social experiments are categorized into four fields: rescue services, risk management, infrastructure and education. The impacts of the near real-time and forecast information were analyzed by social scientists.

TOMACS is an international testbed study for deep convection. The international partners include the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia), Sao Paulo University (Brazil), Environment Canada (Canada), University of Hohenheim (Germany), Pukyong National University (Korea), University Paris-Est (France), National Center for Atmospheric Research (USA) and Colorado State University (USA). The TOMACS RDP incorporates the previously mentioned scientific objectives with the study on LHIW. The international participants will conduct nowcasting/forecasting experiments collaborating with Japanese scientists using TOMACS observation data. Mechanisms of LHIW and the urban effect on their evolution are also studied. TOMACS also exchanges information with other projects that share similar academic goals.

  Observation network

One of the unique features of TOMACS is the utilization of dense meteorological instruments in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, which is one of the most urbanized areas in the world. The field campaign that was planned by 14 research organizations, which was initiated in summer 2011 and ended in summer 2013, targets the atmospheric environment of the troposphere and boundary layer, and the initiation of convections and lifecycles of thunderstorms.


  Management and organization

International Science Steering Committee


Country Institution Name Role
Australia Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) A. Seed Nowcasting
Brazil Sao Paulo Univ. A. Pereira Radar meteorology
Canada Environment Canada (EC) S. Belair Urban modeling
Germany Univ. of Hohenheim (HU) V. Wulfmeyer Data assimilation
Japan NIED T. Nakatani Principal investigator (PI)
Japan NIED R. Misumi Management
Japan MRI Y. Shoji Field campaign
Japan MRI K. Saito RDP proposal to WWRP
Korea Pukyong National Univ. (PKNU) D.-I. Lee Field observation
USA NCAR J. Sun Data assimilation

International Advisory Board


Country Institution Name Remarks
Canada EC P. Joe Chairman of WGNR
France UANPE D. Schertzer Precipitation
Japan Toyo Univ. I. Nakamura Social experiment
Japan NIED K. Iwanami Collaborator of RDP science plan
Japan Hokkaido Univ. Y. Fujiyoshi Proposer of RDP science plan
Japan Kagoshima Univ. M. Maki Former PI of TOMACS
Japan Kyoto Univ. M. Ishihara Proposer of TOMACS
Netherlands KNMI J. Onvlee Chairman of WG-MWFR
USA CSU V. Chandrasekar PI of Dallas-Fort Worth project

Local Organizing Committee


Institution Names
NIED S. Suzuki Y. Shusse K. Hirano and A. Nakai
MRI H. Seko N. Seino M. Otsuka M. Kunii and N. Imai

 Publications


 International Workshop

Preparatory meeting on 25 October 2012

In preparation of the RDP proposal, a TOMACS RDP preparatory meeting was held in Shinagawa Intercity, Tokyo, Japan, on 25 October 2012. Approximately 50 participants from six countries attended the meeting.

Participants


First international workshop from 4-5 December 2013

The first international workshop on TOMACS was held at Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, from 4 - 5 December 2013 with an attendance of approximately 90 scientists, which included scientists from overseas.

Participants


Second international workshop from 26-27 November 2014

The Second International Workshop on Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS) took place at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan from 26 to 27 November 2014.

Participants


Third International Workshop from 4-5 February 2016

The Third International Workshop on Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS) took place at Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo from 4 to 5 February 2016.

Participants


 JMSJ TOMACS Special Issue

Special Issue on Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities (TOMACS) of Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan was published in May 2018.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jmsj/96A/0/_contents/-char/en


 Contact

Dr. Ryohei Misumi