The international research programme HIRLAM (HIgh Resolution Limited Area Model) is a research cooperation of European meteorological institutes. The aim of the HIRLAM program
me is to develop and maintain a numerical short-range weather forecasting system for operational use by the participating meteorological institutes.
The programme was initiated in 1985 and has gone through numerous phases in the past two decades. Since 1 January 2011, the programme has entered a new phase, HIRLAM-B (see the Memorandum Of Understanding HIRLAM-B ). The model which is the focus of HIRLAM-B research activities is the non-hydrostatic convection permitting model HARMONIE. This is being developed in close cooperation with the ALADIN consortium and Météo-France, building on model components that have largely been developed previously in these two communities.
The HIRLAM Consortium and cooperation with ALADIN
The HIRLAM consortium consists of the institutes listed in the table. For information about the ALADIN consortium please see the ALADIN website.
| HIRLAM members | ||
|---|---|---|
| Danish Meteorological Institute | DMI | Denmark |
| Estonian Meteorological Institute | EMHI | Estonia |
| Finnish Meteorological Institute | FMI |
Finland |
| Icelandic Meteorological Office | VI |
Iceland |
| Irish Meteorological Service | Met Eireann | Ireland |
| Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute | KNMI |
Netherlands |
| The Norwegian Meteorological Institute | met.no |
Norway |
| Spanish State Meteorological Agency | AEMET |
Spain |
| Swedish meteorological and Hydrological Institute | SMHI |
Sweden |
| Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service | LHMS |
Lituania |
| Météo-France (associate member) | Météo-France |
France |
Goals of HIRLAM-B
The main goals of HIRLAM-B are threefold:
- Development of an operationally suitable mesoscale model at a target horizontal resolution of 2.5 km (HARMONIE).
- Development of an operationally suitable short-range multi-model limited area ensemble prediction system, suitable specifically for severe weather (GLAMEPS).
- A new ambition of the cooperation is to develop and deploy cost-effective ways of operational cooperation by means of consortium-wide activities.
The research done to achieve these objectives is described in more detail in the joint HIRLAM-ALADIN rolling work plans for each year of this period (see HIRLAM-B most recent Workplan).
Steering bodies
The HIRLAM programme is controlled by the HIRLAM council, which consists of the directors of the participating institutes. The programme is managed by the management group.
The management group is advised by a Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, the HAC.
All steering documents can be found at HIRLAM steering documents.
