Abstract: Meteorological radar precipitation pattern prediction methods and apparatus are provided, by which operational costs can be reduced, a series of physical processes in a precipitation region and topographical influences can be considered. The main method has the steps of inputting radar images of a precipitation region storing the input radar images as time-series two-dimensional images; calculating various image-feature quantities with respect to two or more of the stored two-dimensional past images; calculating a spatial-temporal transition of the amount of precipitation using an advection-diffusion equation system which indicates various physical effects relating to precipitation phenomena, with the various image-feature quantities as initial values; predicting transition of a pattern with respect to the precipitation region based on results of the calculation; and outputting predicted results as time-series images.

Abstract: An equipment for weather image prediction comprising: a field extracting portion, which calculates the velocity fields of the local echoes with respect to time and space from a plurality of time sequential frames of weather radar images for a plurality of frames therein, and which segments and extracts a field possessing similar velocities with respect to time and space as one precipitation field from said plurality of frames of weather radar images by employing said calculated velocity fields; a moving velocity estimating portion, which estimates the moving velocity of a precipitation field by obtaining the amount of movement, among the neighboring frames, of the precipitation field segmented and extracted by said field extracting portion; and a forecast image generating portion, which extrapolates a plurality of precipitation fields by employing a distance taken by multiplying the moving velocity of the precipitation field estimated by said moving velocity estimating portion by a desired forecasting time, a