The advanced algorithm for tracking objects (AALTO)

Meteorological applications

article

George Limpert¹  Adam Houston¹  Noah Lock² 

[1] Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln;Inc.

关键词: forecasting;    remote sensing;    verification;    hazards;   

DOI  :  10.1002/met.1501

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

The advanced algorithm for the tracking of objects (AALTO) constructs tracks from objects, such as thunderstorms or mesocyclones, detected by multiple weather radars at irregular time intervals. It is important to have high accuracy in tracking thunderstorms to generate skilful forecasts and high-quality climatologies and, fundamentally, to ensure that any derived product from tracks captures only that particular storm, and in its entirety. AALTO incorporates many of the best practices of existing tracking algorithms and techniques employed by meteorologists in constructing tracks. AALTO differs from existing algorithms designed to track meteorological phenomena that manifest in radar data in the following ways: (1) AALTO is designed to track objects from multiple radars, enabling analysis over a larger domain than if a single radar was used; (2) improved tracking is realized through improved initial motion estimates and directional thresholding and (3) AALTO looks both at the track history and at the subsequent possible positions along a track when constructing the best possible tracks, mimicking the approach that would be taken by a human meteorologist. Verification was done using metrics that were objectively determined to distinguish between good and degraded tracks; a description of the approach to determine the appropriate metrics is presented. An overview of the AALTO tracking procedure and an example case are presented in this study.

【 授权许可】

CC BY|CC BY-NC|CC BY-NC-ND