Abstract. The ability of radar-rain gauge merging algorithms to precisely analyse convective precipitation patterns is of high interest for many applications, e.g. hydrological modelling, thunderstorm warnings, and, as a reference, to spatially validate numerical weather prediction models. However, due to drawbacks of methods like crossvalidation and due to the limited availability of reference data sets on high temporal and spatial scales, an adequate validation is usually hardly possible, especially on an operational basis. The present study evaluates the skill of very high-resolution and frequently updated precipitation analyses (rapid-INCA) by means of a very dense weather station network (WegenerNet), operated in a limited domain of the southeastern parts of Austria (Styria). Based on case studies and a longer-term validation over the convective season 2011, a general underestimation of the rapid-INCA precipitation amounts is shown by both continuous and categorical verification measures, although the temporal and spatial variability of the errors is -by convective nature -high. The contribution of the rain gauge measurements to the analysis skill is crucial. However, the capability of the analyses to precisely assess the convective precipitation distribution predominantly depends on the representativeness of the stations under the prevalent convective condition.

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Although many planning systems are based on a combination of traditional land-use planning and strategic spatial planning, the interplay between the two approaches remains insufficiently investigated. Focusing on the Canton of Zurich, we applied a qualitative content analysis to extract strategic planning intentions from the Cantonal Structure Plan (1995). We quantitatively analysed the compliance of changes in municipal land-use plans between 1996 and 2016 concerning the extracted planning intentions. The overall low rate of changes was accompanied by few active contradictions of land-use planning. Minor deviations from the strategic plan were seen in the spatial allocation of new building zones. Considering the socio-economic dynamics of the region, surprisingly few changes were detected regarding the permitted building density for residential and mixed-use areas. This leads us to the conclusion that the Cantonal Structure Plan (1995) was very successful in quantitatively limiting the expansion of building zones. However, it showed a limited active steering capacity regarding their allocation and the regulation of building density. Our analysis showed that margins of discretion play a key role in multi-level planning systems, balancing flexibility for locally adapted solutions against statutory boundaries to prevent their misuse, as such they need to be considered in planning evaluation.

Although European studies have become more common in recent years, published research on perception and use of weather information has been dominated by studies from the United States with some scattered contributions across Europe. The present study gives a broad European context, by providing perspectives from 18 countries and several user professions as well as from 14 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), and by combining new insights from probabilistic forecasting, warning and interaction between NMHSs and their users. These insights are based on two surveys undertaken in the framework of the EUMETNET Nowcasting (E‐NWC) Programme, where EUMETNET represents the European Meteorological Services' Network: one survey for the participating NMHSs in the E‐NWC Programme, and the other one for their respective users. Both surveys were distributed in autumn 2019, and open for responses until spring 2020. Several findings from the surveys support conclusions of previous research, for example, concerning the perception of probabilities or taking measures in case of severe weather (many users would start their preliminary measures at a probability level of 60%). Although most of the NMHSs and their users are in regular contact, there is room for increasing the frequency of face‐to‐face meetings between them. Nearly one‐third of NMHSs never meet face‐to‐face with users from the public. The two surveys indicate that there might be benefits of increased collaboration and sharing of data between European NMHSs to be able to offer their users more training, and to learn from each other in areas where insight already exists.

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Abstract. The ability of radar-rain gauge merging algorithms to precisely analyse convective precipitation patterns is of high interest for many applications, e.g. hydrological modelling. However, due to drawbacks of methods like cross-validation and due to the limited availability of reference datasets on high temporal and spatial scale, an adequate validation is usually hardly possible, especially on an operational basis. The present study evaluates the skill of very high resolution and frequently updated precipitation analyses (rapid-INCA) by means of a very dense station network (WegenerNet), operated in a limited domain of the south-eastern parts of Austria (Styria). Based on case studies and a longer term validation over the convective season 2011, a general underestimation of the rapid-INCA precipitation amounts is shown, although the temporal and spatial variability of the errors is – by convective nature – high. The contribution of the rain gauge measurements to the analysis skill is crucial. However, the capability of the analyses to precisely assess the convective precipitation distribution predominantly depends on the representativeness of the stations under the prevalent convective condition.