The aim of the INCA-CE (Integrated Nowcasting Comprehensive Analysis - Central Europe) project is to establish an international weather information system, which common platform is the INCA nowcasting system, originally developed in Austria. The INCA-CE project partners cooperate on preparation of applications available for wide range of users (e.g. in hydrology, civil protection and road safety). The INCA system processes data from several sources (e.g. from surface weather stations, radar and satellite observations, forecasts of numerical models) to ensure very accurate weather analyses, which are as close to the real state of the atmosphere as possible. Besides data assimilation and interpolation, the INCA algorithms also use statistical methods and information about the climate. Further, very short range forecasts of temperature, wind, humidity and precipitation are created. This approach is generally called nowcasting.

The INCA-CE project was planned by the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, hereafter: ZAMG). Altogether 16 partners from 8 countries (Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy) participate in the project activities, with ZAMG as a lead partner. The project application was accepted in 2009, its implementation started on 1 April 2010.

The Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) operates INCA in a test mode since 2011. The evaluation of the forecasts is provided above all for the pilot area of the Somogy County and of the Lake Balaton, in cooperation with the Disaster Management Directorate of Somogy County (DMDSC). HMS and DMDSC contributed to elaboration of a transregional strategy, which provides guidance for using nowcasting outputs in the civil protection. The forecasts of INCA enable tracking of weather systems (fronts, storms), which is important for better preparedness on weather changes and related hazards.

 OMSZ: 22 May 2013

The INCA-HU nowcasting system was developed in the frame of the INCA-CE project, which ended on 30 September 2013. OMSZ maintained the INCA system for public use during the following five years but its operation cannot be ensured in the future, thus, the INCA-HU will stop running since 1 March 2019. We would like to thank the users for their interest in INCA-HU forecasts and from now we advise the outputs of the MEANDER nowcasting system developed at OMSZ, which is also the most important source for the Meteora mobile application.

 
This project is implemented through the CENTRALEUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERFA.