COST 722, 1-DEFOP: 1-Dimensional Ensemble Fog Prediction

COST 722 was an international research cooperation of institutions from 14 different European states and Canada with the aim to increase the forecast quality of fog, visibility and low clouds. The Swiss government agency 'State Secretariat for Education and Research' (SER) supported two research projects in Switzerland in the framework of COST 722.

One project was the so called 1-DEFOP (1-Dimensional Ensemble Fog Prediction) – a joint research project of MeteoSwiss (lead by Christoph Schmutz) and the University of Basel (Mathias D. Müller).

The aim was to study the prediction skill of an ensemble of a 1-D column model. Since aviation is one of the economic sectors that strongly depends on accurate visibility forecast, the predictions were setup for the Zurich Airport. The airport lies in a smooth valley between hills on formerly swampy areas – a region prone to foggy conditions.