LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Hydrometeorological Engineering Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A hydrometeorology lab that works to uncover how heavy rain forms, to predict it, and eventually to control it.
AboutAbout the lab
Science that connects to the future of heavy rain.
The Hydrometeorological Engineering Lab studies how heavy rain forms and where and how much it falls.
By combining observation with weather radar and other instruments with numerical models, the lab follows the process by which cumulonimbus clouds develop.
Its work covers a wide range, from short-term rainfall prediction and future changes due to climate change to control methods that would mitigate heavy rain.
The lab is part of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute and aims to develop technology that protects human lives from heavy rain disasters.
Key terms
- Cumulonimbus
- A cloud that grows tall through strong updrafts and brings thunderstorms and localized heavy rain
- Data assimilation
- A method that incorporates observed values into a numerical simulation to bring the starting point of the calculation closer to the actual atmosphere
- Linear precipitation system (senjo kousuitai)
- A band-shaped rain area in which cumulonimbus clouds form one after another in a line and bring strong rain over the same place for a long time
NewsLab news
An undergraduate student won the Outstanding Presentation Award at the graduation thesis presentation
A doctoral student won the Poster Award at the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources 2025 research presentation meeting
ResearchResearch themes
The lab pursues hydrometeorological research under three pillars: observing, predicting, and controlling heavy rain. To reach an understanding that neither observation alone nor numerical models alone can provide, the research centers on combining the two.
*Illustrative imageClarifying the mechanisms of heavy rain
Using large-scale field observations with weather radar and particle sondes, the lab investigates how cumulonimbus clouds form and develop. It has also developed its own urban meteorology LES (large-eddy simulation) model, and clarifies how small air vortices grow into large-scale phenomena.
*Illustrative imageMore accurate rainfall and runoff prediction
The lab has built a data assimilation system that incorporates polarimetric radar observations into numerical models, and works on rainfall prediction with a longer lead time than before. It also produces a kind of disaster prevention information that predicts the possibility that a forecast will be wrong.
*Illustrative imageClimate change and future changes in heavy rain
The lab analyzes how Baiu (rainy season) heavy rain, linear precipitation systems, and localized torrential downpours will change in the future, using large-ensemble climate simulations. It also reads the accumulated observational data alongside them to clarify the characteristics of long-term trends in heavy rain.
*Illustrative imageHeavy rain control
As a last resort for protecting human lives from heavy rain disasters, the lab explores ways to mitigate heavy rain itself. Using numerical simulation, it has tested the possibility that installing wind turbines or curtains at sea could reduce rainfall.
MembersFaculty
The Hydrometeorological Engineering Lab consists of faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and support staff.
- ProfessorKosei Yamaguchi
- Assistant ProfessorYukari Naka
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Hydrometeorological Engineering Lab
Coastal Disaster Prevention Engineering LabFaculty of Engineering, School of Global EngineeringLong-term hazard assessment for protecting national land fro…
Regional Water Environment Systems LabFaculty of Engineering, School of Global EngineeringWater is one of humanity's most precious natural resources, …
Erosion and Sediment Control Engineering LabFaculty of Engineering, School of Global EngineeringElucidation of sediment transport mechanisms in sediment sys…
Disaster Prevention Technology and Policy LabFaculty of Engineering, School of Global EngineeringDisaster Prevention Technology and Policy, Disaster Preventi…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Large cloud over Mexican landscape” Tomascastelazo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Clarifying the mechanisms of heavy rain: “Weather radar radome of JASDF Takaoyama Sub Base June 1, 2019” Hunini / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- More accurate rainfall and runoff prediction: “Spider web and dew 7th Brigade Park Chermside L1010439” John Robert McPherson / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Climate change and future changes in heavy rain: “Pine log cross-sections, Teutendorf” Radomianin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Heavy rain control: “Barrow Offshore wind turbines NR” Original: Andy Dingley; Edit: Muhammad / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (海岸防災工学): “Storm surge Wilhelmshaven” Jacek Rużyczka / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (地域水環境システム): “Inca canal at Pampacahuana” Sashimi-b / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (砂防工学): “Debris flow lawina 4” Mirosław Mrozik / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (防災技術政策): “Yellowstone flood event 2022 swollen Lamar River and Lamar Valley ( )” Yellowstone National Park / Public domain (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.