Heavy Precipitation Systems in the Mediterranean Area: The Role of GPM

Heavy precipitation systems typical of the Mediterranean area and often devastating its coastal regions, are described and analyzed here by exploiting active and passive microwave measurements and state-of-the-art precipitation products available in the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission era. The GPM is boosting its key role in integrating the established observational ground-based and satellite-borne tools not only for precipitation monitoring, but also for understanding and characterizing severe weather in the Mediterranean area. In this chapter, we present three events that have recently challenged observational and forecasting capabilities, and caused damages at the ground. Making use of ground based and satellite-borne instruments, we address the problem of estimating precipitation of a small-scale and short-living intense thunderstorm, the capability to render the 3-D structure of a mesoscale organized convective system, and the key role of spaceborne microwave sensors in the characterization and monitoring of a tropical-like cyclone. To this end, we exploited satellite measurements probably beyond the role they have been designed for, showing few strategies to blend satellite data and products with conventional meteorological data, with the aim to increase the knowledge of severe systems in the Mediterranean area and to support operational forecasting activities in a climate change perspective.