X-band weather radar monitoring real-time products in Rome and Naples urban areas

The metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples are the most populous in Italy, having a population of 4,233,000 and 3,020,000 peoples, respectively, and being within the first 10th-most populous urban areas in the European Union. Within such areas population, industry, commerce, transport and government activities are highly affected by severe weather associated with convective storms, flash floods and mood slides as well as other damages caused by hail, lightning, wind gusts all year round (mainly in autumn). In this respect weather radars´ capability to monitor precipitation at high spatial and temporal scales is of outmost importance and stimulates a significant interest within both meteorological and hydrological community. This is due to the fact that improving intense storm and flash flood forecast requires accurate quantitative rain measurements at small scales. In this context two low-cost single-polarization X-band weather radar systems have been installed and tested in Rome and Naples metropolitan areas. Herein some preliminary results are described, showing the usefulness and potentiality of such X-band low-cost systems at urban scale.