Last week (3-7 September) was marked by the annual meeting of the European Meteorological Society in Budapest. Here, a few hundred meteorologists and climatologists convened to enjoy the end of hot summer with sweaty and humid weather, and to learn about the recent advance in the atmospheric sciences. This time, a large share of presentations and posters reflect the outspoken societal request to action-ready meteorological information and climate predictions. 

Our attention has been attracted by a series of talks about impact-based forecasts and warnings. Particularly interesting was the work of Hans-Ertel-Zentrum in Germany that considers the end-user perception of the provided meteorological information in different forms.  The users clearly prefer the information on a geographical map, but what is interesting, the most accurate perception of information was achieved with colored box-plot form of its presentation.

As usual, the hottest debates were during the poster session. Certain posters served as crystallization cores for disputes, especially when discussion leaders emerge at place. Here, we with colleagues had a chance to test the finding of the sociological studies on the information perception. Indeed, the posters combining the maps and box plots in a reasonable way attracted larger attention of the browsing auditorium.

In Budapest: Igor Ezau

European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting 2018