Weather Observation Systems Support Forecasting at Vancouver Winter Olympics  

The world’s best athletes have just pushed themselves to the limits in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Somewhat less visible, but equally hard at work has been a league of behind-the-scenes organisers, such as weather forecasters.

Reliable and timely weather information is a prerequisite for the success of any outdoor event, the Winter Olympics being no exception. Not just sports, but the safety and security of the entire event are affected by weather. In order to support accurate forecasting for the Winter Games, Environment Canada, the Games’ official weather services provider, decided to expand its observational network in the area using several of Vaisala’s instruments.

The newly extended weather observation network consists of a host of measurement instruments, including ceilometers for cloud height detection and boundary layer characterization, visibility and current weather sensors, Doppler weather radars, and wind profilers. Advanced meteorological sensors often used at airports were also deployed for remote locations, chosen for of their ability to provide rapid updates of high-impact weather events.

Several outdoor venues of the 2010 Winter Games were located along a u-shape valley north of Vancouver called the Sea-to-Sky Corridor. The complex terrain conditions found here are subject to high winds, reduced visibility and mixed-phase precipitation, creating significant challenges for weather forecasting.

The observation data from Environment Canada’s new network is also helping researchers within a program called Science and NOWcasting of Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10). This program, operating under the World Meteorological Organization, focuses on delivering short-term forecasts or nowcasts (within 6 hours) of high-impact weather over the complex terrain.

Vaisala has provided weather observation systems for all Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000. After the Olympics, the newly installed equipment in the Vancouver area will be used as part of Canada’s national weather observation network.