At 5:00 am on June 19th, dense clouds covered the sky over Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. The "Haiyan" II drone flew from Chaoyang Airport to the Bohai Bay area and "captured" an upcoming rain closely related to the Northeast Cold Vortex. This is the first time that the meteorological department has implemented a large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle observation experiment on the Northeast Cold Vortex, aiming to further improve the accuracy of weather forecasting and disaster warning capabilities, while promoting the commercialization of low altitude economic scenarios and the application of public service scenarios. Li Deqin, Deputy Director of Shenyang Institute of Atmospheric Environment of China Meteorological Administration, introduced that the Northeast Cold Vortex belongs to a large-scale atmospheric circulation system in the mid to high latitude region. Its airflow rotates counterclockwise, and the temperature in the core area is significantly lower than that in the surrounding environment. It usually occurs in the range of 35 ° -60 ° N and 115 ° -145 ° E. According to meteorological standards, when a cyclonic vortex with a duration of 3 days or more appears at an altitude of 500 hectopascals, it is classified as a Northeast Cold Vortex. The Northeast Cold Vortex is most active in late spring and early summer (May June), and its formation mechanism is that polar cold air moves southward with the low pressure trough of the westerly belt, forming a cold cut-off low pressure at high altitudes (near 500hPa). The system is hindered by the terrain of the Mongolian Plateau and Northeast Plain, coupled with weak airflow guided by the westerly belt, which can easily form a highly stagnant weather system, often accompanied by sustained low temperatures, strong convection, and precipitation weather. In winter, the Northeast Cold Vortex is closely related to large-scale cold wave weather, "Li Deqin emphasized. About 30% of short-term heavy rainfall, 50% of thunderstorms and strong winds, and 80% of tornadoes in the Northeast region are related to the Northeast Cold Vortex. ”Yuan Chao, Chief of the Observation and Testing Team at the Northeast Cold Vortex Research Key Open Laboratory of the China Meteorological Administration, said that the small and medium-sized convective systems induced by the Northeast Cold Vortex have characteristics such as locality, suddenness, recurrence, and asymmetry, which makes it difficult for forecasters to grasp the intensity, location, and timing of the catastrophic weather it triggers. This is one of the global meteorological challenges. ”Zhou Chunxiao, chief forecaster of Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Observatory, introduced that the spatial density of ground observation stations and high-altitude sounding stations is limited, making it difficult to accurately capture the fine scale structure inside the cold vortex and environmental changes before convective triggering. Using drones to observe the Northeast Cold Vortex is like equipping forecasters with a "super microscope and perspective eye", which can provide clearer and more three-dimensional insights into its "internal secrets", thereby enhancing forecasters' ability to grasp weather patterns and accurately warn disasters. It is reported that the Meteorological Observation Center of the China Meteorological Administration, in conjunction with the Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Bureau, used the "Haiyan" meteorological unmanned aerial vehicle to carry out mobile exploration of the ocean, complex terrain, and convective sensitive areas, equipped with airborne sounding systems, laser wind radars, and cloud radars. The range was about 400 kilometers, and a total of 4 sounding instruments were deployed, obtaining about 5000 valid observation data. It returned at 6:55 am. The high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind inside the cold vortex and key areas obtained through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sounding can more accurately diagnose information such as water vapor transport channels, fine structures of low-level jet streams, and energy distribution of convective instability. After application evaluation, the sounding data released this time was quickly assimilated based on the Northeast Regional Numerical Forecasting Model, and the results showed that the precipitation forecasting performance of the model was improved to a certain extent. "This will directly help us to accurately locate the rainstorm center, predict the intensity of heavy rainfall, and identify the trigger conditions and falling areas of severe convection weather, so as to improve the timeliness and accuracy of early warning of meteorological disasters. ”Yuan Chao said. The Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Observatory utilizes the high-resolution vertical profile, cloud structure, and wind field data obtained this time, combined with data from Fengyun-4B satellite, mobile LiDAR, etc., to quickly conduct weather diagnosis and analysis. Zhou Chunxiao stated that the observation of the Northeast Cold Vortex by drones has a fundamental and breakthrough role in promoting forecasting work. Forecasters can identify environmental conditions that are conducive to the development of severe convective weather in advance, such as the accumulation of unstable energy, the enhancement of vertical wind shear, etc. They can then issue early warnings for severe convective weather, buying more response time for the public and relevant departments and reducing disaster losses. (New Society)