arXiv subjects

Sándor Baran

Publications and source records attributed to Sándor Baran.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

AI and physics-based weather forecasting: A comparative study

In the last few years, AI-based models have become the centre of attention in weather forecasting due to their increasing accuracy and efficiency. Pioneering among weather services, ECMWF has developed its Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS) model, which was first to provide data-driven ensemble forecasts in June 2024. Since July 2025, the AIFS ensemble model has been operational and runs in parallel with ECMWF's physics-based Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), which is considered the gold standard in weather prediction. The new AIFS model can generate forecasts ten times faster than the classical numerical weather prediction model, while consuming approximately a thousand times less energy. We present the results of our systematic assessment of the performance of the IFS and AIFS models by comparing the accuracy of raw and post-processed medium-range 10-m wind-speed ensemble forecasts generated operationally by the two models for the period between July and November 2025 for more than 9000 synoptic observation stations across the globe. The post-processed case involves the parametric ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) as well as the non-parametric quantile regression (QR) approach to correct any systematic inaccuracies in the raw forecasts. The predictive performance of raw IFS ensemble forecasts proves to be substantially superior to the skill of the raw AIFS predictions for all investigated forecast horizons. As expected, post-processing significantly improves the skill of both IFS and AIFS predictions, and, across most verification metrics, EMOS is superior to QR, especially for short lead times. Compared to the raw ensemble, the differences in skill between the matching IFS and AIFS predictions are substantially decreased by post-processing and are mostly significant at short lead times, when the IFS forecasts outperform their AIFS counterparts.

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arXiv2025

Post-processing of ensemble photovoltaic power forecasts with distributional and quantile regression methods

Accurate and reliable forecasting of photovoltaic (PV) power generation is crucial for grid operations, electricity markets, and energy planning, as solar systems now contribute a significant share of the electricity supply in many countries. PV power forecasts are often generated by converting forecasts of relevant weather variables to power predictions via a model chain. The use of ensemble simulations from numerical weather prediction models results in probabilistic PV forecasts in the form of a forecast ensemble. However, weather forecasts often exhibit systematic errors that propagate through the model chain, leading to biased and/or uncalibrated PV power predictions. These deficiencies can be mitigated by statistical post-processing. Using PV production data and corresponding short-term PV power ensemble forecasts at seven utility-scale PV plants in Hungary, we systematically evaluate and compare seven state-of-the-art methods for post-processing PV power forecasts. These include both parametric and non-parametric techniques, as well as statistical and machine learning-based approaches. Our results show that compared to the raw PV power ensemble, any form of statistical post-processing significantly improves the predictive performance. Non-parametric methods outperform parametric models, with advanced nonlinear quantile regression models showing the best results. Furthermore, machine learning-based approaches surpass their traditional statistical counterparts.

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arXiv2025

Fair Box ordinate transform for forecasts following a multivariate Gaussian law

Monte Carlo techniques are the method of choice for making probabilistic predictions of an outcome in several disciplines. Usually, the aim is to generate calibrated predictions which are statistically indistinguishable from the outcome. Developers and users of such Monte Carlo predictions are interested in evaluating the degree of calibration of the forecasts. Here, we consider predictions of $p$-dimensional outcomes sampling a multivariate Gaussian distribution and apply the Box ordinate transform (BOT) to assess calibration. However, this approach is known to fail to reliably indicate calibration when the sample size n is moderate. For some applications, the cost of obtaining Monte-Carlo estimates is significant, which can limit the sample size, for instance, in model development when the model is improved iteratively. Thus, it would be beneficial to be able to reliably assess calibration even if the sample size n is moderate. To address this need, we introduce a fair, sample size- and dimension-dependent version of the Gaussian sample BOT. In a simulation study, the fair Gaussian sample BOT is compared with alternative BOT versions for different miscalibrations and for different sample sizes. Results confirm that the fair Gaussian sample BOT is capable of correctly identifying miscalibration when the sample size is moderate in contrast to the alternative BOT versions. Subsequently, the fair Gaussian sample BOT is applied to two to 12-dimensional predictions of temperature and vector wind using operational ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Firstly, perfectly reliable situations are considered where the outcome is replaced by a forecast that samples the same distribution as the members in the ensemble. Secondly, the BOT is computed using estimates of the actual temperature and vector wind from ECMWF analyses.

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arXiv2025

Statistical post-processing of operational dual-resolution wind-speed ensemble forecasts

Weather forecasting presents several challenges, including the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and the high computational demands of numerical weather prediction models. To achieve the most accurate predictions, the ideal scenario involves the lowest possible horizontal resolution and the largest ensemble size. This study provides a detailed comparative analysis of the forecast skill of the raw and post-processed medium- and extended-range wind-speed ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts issued at 9 km and 36 km horizontal resolutions, respectively, and their various mixtures. We utilized the ensemble model output statistic approach for forecast calibration with three different spatial training data selection techniques. First, we investigate the performance of the 50-member medium-range and 100-member extended-range predictions - referred to as high and low resolution, respectively - and their 150-member dual-resolution combination. Further, we examine whether the performance of raw and post-processed low-resolution forecasts can be improved by incorporating high-resolution ensemble members. Our results confirm that all post-processed forecasts outperform the raw ensemble predictions in terms of probabilistic calibration and point forecast accuracy and that post-processing considerably reduces the differences between the various configurations. We also show that spatial resolution is superior to the ensemble size; augmenting a sufficiently large ensemble of high-resolution forecasts with low-resolution predictions does not necessarily result in a gain in forecast skill. However, our study also highlights the clear benefit of the other direction, namely, incorporating high-resolution members into low-resolution ensemble forecasts, where the most significant gains are observed in configurations with the highest number of high-resolution members.

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arXiv2024

Machine learning-based probabilistic forecasting of solar irradiance in Chile

By the end of 2023, renewable sources cover 63.4% of the total electric power demand of Chile, and in line with the global trend, photovoltaic (PV) power shows the most dynamic increase. Although Chile's Atacama Desert is considered the sunniest place on Earth, PV power production, even in this area, can be highly volatile. Successful integration of PV energy into the country's power grid requires accurate short-term PV power forecasts, which can be obtained from predictions of solar irradiance and related weather quantities. Nowadays, in weather forecasting, the state-of-the-art approach is the use of ensemble forecasts based on multiple runs of numerical weather prediction models. However, ensemble forecasts still tend to be uncalibrated or biased, thus requiring some form of post-processing. The present work investigates probabilistic forecasts of solar irradiance for Regions III and IV in Chile. For this reason, 8-member short-term ensemble forecasts of solar irradiance for calendar year 2021 are generated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, which are then calibrated using the benchmark ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) method based on a censored Gaussian law, and its machine learning-based distributional regression network (DRN) counterpart. Furthermore, we also propose a neural network-based post-processing method resulting in improved 8-member ensemble predictions. All forecasts are evaluated against station observations for 30 locations, and the skill of post-processed predictions is compared to the raw WRF ensemble. Our case study confirms that all studied post-processing methods substantially improve both the calibration of probabilistic- and the accuracy of point forecasts. Among the methods tested, the corrected ensemble exhibits the best overall performance. Additionally, the DRN model generally outperforms the corresponding EMOS approach.

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arXiv2024

Enhancing multivariate post-processed visibility predictions utilizing CAMS forecasts

In our contemporary era, meteorological weather forecasts increasingly incorporate ensemble predictions of visibility - a parameter of great importance in aviation, maritime navigation, and air quality assessment, with direct implications for public health. However, this weather variable falls short of the predictive accuracy achieved for other quantities issued by meteorological centers. Therefore, statistical post-processing is recommended to enhance the reliability and accuracy of predictions. By estimating the predictive distributions of the variables with the aid of historical observations and forecasts, one can achieve statistical consistency between true observations and ensemble predictions. Visibility observations, following the recommendation of the World Meteorological Organization, are typically reported in discrete values; hence, the predictive distribution of the weather quantity takes the form of a discrete parametric law. Recent studies demonstrated that the application of classification algorithms can successfully improve the skill of such discrete forecasts; however, a frequently emerging issue is that certain spatial and/or temporal dependencies could be lost between marginals. Based on visibility ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for 30 locations in Central Europe, we investigate whether the inclusion of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) predictions of the same weather quantity as an additional covariate could enhance the skill of the post-processing methods and whether it contributes to the successful integration of spatial dependence between marginals. Our study confirms that post-processed forecasts are substantially superior to raw and climatological predictions, and the utilization of CAMS forecasts provides a further significant enhancement both in the univariate and multivariate setup.

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arXiv2024

Ensemble size dependence of the logarithmic score for forecasts issued as multivariate normal distributions

Multivariate probabilistic verification is concerned with the evaluation of joint probability distributions of vector quantities such as a weather variable at multiple locations or a wind vector for instance. The logarithmic score is a proper score that is useful in this context. In order to apply this score to ensemble forecasts, a choice for the density is required. Here, we are interested in the specific case when the density is multivariate normal with mean and covariance given by the ensemble mean and ensemble covariance, respectively. Under the assumptions of multivariate normality and exchangeability of the ensemble members, a relationship is derived which describes how the logarithmic score depends on ensemble size. It permits to estimate the score in the limit of infinite ensemble size from a small ensemble and thus produces a fair logarithmic score for multivariate ensemble forecasts under the assumption of normality. This generalises a study from 2018 which derived the ensemble size adjustment of the logarithmic score in the univariate case. An application to medium-range forecasts examines the usefulness of the ensemble size adjustments when multivariate normality is only an approximation. Predictions of vectors consisting of several different combinations of upper air variables are considered. Logarithmic scores are calculated for these vectors using ECMWF's daily extended-range forecasts which consist of a 100-member ensemble. The probabilistic forecasts of these vectors are verified against operational ECMWF analyses in the Northern mid-latitudes in autumn 2023. Scores are computed for ensemble sizes from 8 to 100. The fair logarithmic scores of ensembles with different cardinalities are very close, in contrast to the unadjusted scores which decrease considerably with ensemble size. This provides evidence for the practical usefulness of the derived relationships.

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arXiv2024

Clustering-based spatial interpolation of parametric post-processing models

Since the start of the operational use of ensemble prediction systems, ensemble-based probabilistic forecasting has become the most advanced approach in weather prediction. However, despite the persistent development of the last three decades, ensemble forecasts still often suffer from the lack of calibration and might exhibit systematic bias, which calls for some form of statistical post-processing. Nowadays, one can choose from a large variety of post-processing approaches, where parametric methods provide full predictive distributions of the investigated weather quantity. Parameter estimation in these models is based on training data consisting of past forecast-observation pairs, thus post-processed forecasts are usually available only at those locations where training data are accessible. We propose a general clustering-based interpolation technique of extending calibrated predictive distributions from observation stations to any location in the ensemble domain where there are ensemble forecasts at hand. Focusing on the ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) post-processing technique, in a case study based on wind speed ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, we demonstrate the predictive performance of various versions of the suggested method and show its superiority over the regionally estimated and interpolated EMOS models and the raw ensemble forecasts as well.

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arXiv2024

Parametric model for post-processing visibility ensemble forecasts

Although by now the ensemble-based probabilistic forecasting is the most advanced approach to weather prediction, ensemble forecasts still might suffer from lack of calibration and/or display systematic bias, thus require some post-processing to improve their forecast skill. Here we focus on visibility, which quantity plays a crucial role e.g. in aviation and road safety or in ship navigation, and propose a parametric model where the predictive distribution is a mixture of a gamma and a truncated normal distribution, both right censored at the maximal reported visibility value. The new model is evaluated in two case studies based on visibility ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts covering two distinct domains in Central and Western Europe and two different time periods. The results of the case studies indicate that post-processed forecasts are substantially superior to the raw ensemble; moreover, the proposed mixture model consistently outperforms the Bayesian model averaging approach used as reference post-processing technique.

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arXiv2023

Statistical post-processing of visibility ensemble forecasts

To be able to produce accurate and reliable predictions of visibility has crucial importance in aviation meteorology, as well as in water- and road transportation. Nowadays, several meteorological services provide ensemble forecasts of visibility; however, the skill, and reliability of visibility predictions are far reduced compared to other variables, such as temperature or wind speed. Hence, some form of calibration is strongly advised, which usually means estimation of the predictive distribution of the weather quantity at hand either by parametric or non-parametric approaches, including also machine learning-based techniques. As visibility observations - according to the suggestion of the World Meteorological Organization - are usually reported in discrete values, the predictive distribution for this particular variable is a discrete probability law, hence calibration can be reduced to a classification problem. Based on visibility ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts covering two slightly overlapping domains in Central and Western Europe and two different time periods, we investigate the predictive performance of locally, semi-locally and regionally trained proportional odds logistic regression (POLR) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network classifiers. We show that while climatological forecasts outperform the raw ensemble by a wide margin, post-processing results in further substantial improvement in forecast skill and in general, POLR models are superior to their MLP counterparts.

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arXiv2022

Parametric post-processing of dual-resolution precipitation forecasts

Recently, all major weather centres issue ensemble forecasts which even covering the same domain differ both in the ensemble size and spatial resolution. These two parameters highly determine both the forecast skill of the prediction and the computation cost. In the last few years, the plans of upgrading the configuration of the Integrated Forecast System of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) from a single forecast with 9 km resolution and a 51-member ensemble with 18 km resolution induced an extensive study of the forecast skill of both raw and post-processed dual-resolution predictions comprising ensemble members of different horizontal resolutions. We investigate the predictive performance of the censored shifted gamma (CSG) ensemble model output statistic (EMOS) approach for statistical post-processing with the help of dual-resolution 24h precipitation accumulation ensemble forecasts over Europe with various forecast horizons. As high-resolution, the operational 50-member ECMWF ensemble is considered, which is extended with a 200-member low-resolution (29-km grid) experimental forecast. The investigated dual-resolution combinations consist of (possibly empty) subsets of these two forecast ensembles with equal computational cost, being equivalent to the cost of the operational 50-member ECMWF ensemble. Our case study verifies that, compared with the raw ensemble combinations, EMOS post-processing results in a significant improvement in forecast skill and the differences between the various dual-resolution combinations are reduced to a non-significant level. Moreover, the semi-locally trained CSG EMOS is fully able to catch up with the state-of-the-art quantile mapping and provides an efficient alternative without requiring additional historical data essential in determining the quantile maps.

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arXiv2022

Comparison of multivariate post-processing methods using global ECMWF ensemble forecasts

An influential step in weather forecasting was the introduction of ensemble forecasts in operational use due to their capability to account for the uncertainties in the future state of the atmosphere. However, ensemble weather forecasts are often underdispersive and might also contain bias, which calls for some form of post-processing. A popular approach to calibration is the ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) approach resulting in a full predictive distribution for a given weather variable. However, this form of univariate post-processing may ignore the prevailing spatial and/or temporal correlation structures among different dimensions. Since many applications call for spatially and/or temporally coherent forecasts, multivariate post-processing aims to capture these possibly lost dependencies. We compare the forecast skill of different nonparametric multivariate approaches to modeling temporal dependence of ensemble weather forecasts with different forecast horizons. The focus is on two-step methods, where after univariate post-processing, the EMOS predictive distributions corresponding to different forecast horizons are combined to a multivariate calibrated prediction using an empirical copula. Based on global ensemble predictions of temperature, wind speed and precipitation accumulation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts from January 2002 to March 2014, we investigate the forecast skill of different versions of Ensemble Copula Coupling (ECC) and Schaake Shuffle (SSh). In general, compared with the raw and independently calibrated forecasts, multivariate post-processing substantially improves the forecast skill. While even the simplest ECC approach with low computational cost provides a powerful benchmark method, recently proposed advanced extensions of the ECC and the SSh are found to not provide any significant improvements over their basic counterparts.

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arXiv2022

A two-step machine learning approach to statistical post-processing of weather forecasts for power generation

By the end of 2021, the renewable energy share of the global electricity capacity reached 38.3% and the new installations are dominated by wind and solar energy, showing global increases of 12.7% and 18.5%, respectively. However, both wind and photovoltaic energy sources are highly volatile making planning difficult for grid operators, so accurate forecasts of the corresponding weather variables are essential for reliable electricity predictions. The most advanced approach in weather prediction is the ensemble method, which opens the door for probabilistic forecasting; though ensemble forecast are often underdispersive and subject to systematic bias. Hence, they require some form of statistical post-processing, where parametric models provide full predictive distributions of the weather variables at hand. We propose a general two-step machine learning-based approach to calibrating ensemble weather forecasts, where in the first step improved point forecasts are generated, which are then together with various ensemble statistics serve as input features of the neural network estimating the parameters of the predictive distribution. In two case studies based of 100m wind speed and global horizontal irradiance forecasts of the operational ensemble pre diction system of the Hungarian Meteorological Service, the predictive performance of this novel method is compared with the forecast skill of the raw ensemble and the state-of-the-art parametric approaches. Both case studies confirm that at least up to 48h statistical post-processing substantially improves the predictive performance of the raw ensemble for all considered forecast horizons. The investigated variants of the proposed two-step method outperform in skill their competitors and the suggested new approach is well applicable for different weather quantities and for a fair range of predictive distributions.

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arXiv2021

Calibration of wind speed ensemble forecasts for power generation

In the last decades wind power became the second largest energy source in the EU covering 16% of its electricity demand. However, due to its volatility, accurate short range wind power predictions are required for successful integration of wind energy into the electrical grid. Accurate predictions of wind power require accurate hub height wind speed forecasts, where the state of the art method is the probabilistic approach based on ensemble forecasts obtained from multiple runs of numerical weather prediction models. Nonetheless, ensemble forecasts are often uncalibrated and might also be biased, thus require some form of post-processing to improve their predictive performance. We propose a novel flexible machine learning approach for calibrating wind speed ensemble forecasts, which results in a truncated normal predictive distribution. In a case study based on 100m wind speed forecasts produced by the operational ensemble prediction system of the Hungarian Meteorological Service, the forecast skill of this method is compared with the predictive performance of three different ensemble model output statistics approaches and the raw ensemble forecasts. We show that compared with the raw ensemble, post-processing always improves the calibration of probabilistic and accuracy of point forecasts and from the four competing methods the novel machine learning based approach results in the best overall performance.

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arXiv2021

Truncated generalized extreme value distribution based EMOS model for calibration of wind speed ensemble forecasts

In recent years, ensemble weather forecasting have become a routine at all major weather prediction centres. These forecasts are obtained from multiple runs of numerical weather prediction models with different initial conditions or model parametrizations. However, ensemble forecasts can often be underdispersive and also biased, so some kind of post-processing is needed to account for these deficiencies. One of the most popular state of the art statistical post-processing techniques is the ensemble model output statistics (EMOS), which provides a full predictive distribution of the studied weather quantity. We propose a novel EMOS model for calibrating wind speed ensemble forecasts, where the predictive distribution is a generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution left truncated at zero (TGEV). The truncation corrects the disadvantage of the GEV distribution based EMOS models of occasionally predicting negative wind speed values, without affecting its favorable properties. The new model is tested on four data sets of wind speed ensemble forecasts provided by three different ensemble prediction systems, covering various geographical domains and time periods. The forecast skill of the TGEV EMOS model is compared with the predictive performance of the truncated normal, log-normal and GEV methods and the raw and climatological forecasts as well. The results verify the advantageous properties of the novel TGEV EMOS approach.

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arXiv2021

Post-processing numerical weather prediction ensembles for probabilistic solar irradiance forecasting

In order to enable the transition towards renewable energy sources, probabilistic energy forecasting is of critical importance for incorporating volatile power sources such as solar energy into the electrical grid. Solar energy forecasting methods often aim to provide probabilistic predictions of solar irradiance. In particular, many hybrid approaches combine physical information from numerical weather prediction models with statistical methods. Even though the physical models can provide useful information at intra-day and day-ahead forecast horizons, ensemble weather forecasts from multiple model runs are often not calibrated and show systematic biases. We propose a post-processing model for ensemble weather predictions of solar irradiance at temporal resolutions between 30 minutes and 6 hours. The proposed models provide probabilistic forecasts in the form of a censored logistic probability distribution for lead times up to 5 days and are evaluated in two case studies covering distinct physical models, geographical regions, temporal resolutions, and types of solar irradiance. We find that post-processing consistently and significantly improves the forecast performance of the ensemble predictions for lead times up to at least 48 hours and is well able to correct the systematic lack of calibration.

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arXiv2020

Statistical post-processing of heat index ensemble forecasts: is there a royal road?

We investigate the effect of statistical post-processing on the probabilistic skill of discomfort index (DI) and indoor wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGTid) ensemble forecasts, both calculated from the corresponding forecasts of temperature and dew point temperature. Two different methodological approaches to calibration are compared. In the first case, we start with joint post-processing of the temperature and dew point forecasts and then create calibrated samples of DI and WBGTid using samples from the obtained bivariate predictive distributions. This approach is compared with direct post-processing of the heat index ensemble forecasts. For this purpose, a novel ensemble model output statistics model based on a generalized extreme value distribution is proposed. The predictive performance of both methods is tested on the operational temperature and dew point ensemble forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the corresponding forecasts of DI and WBGTid. For short lead times (up to day 6), both approaches significantly improve the forecast skill. Among the competing post-processing methods, direct calibration of heat indices exhibits the best predictive performance, very closely followed by the more general approach based on joint calibration of temperature and dew point temperature. Additionally, a machine learning approach is tested and shows comparable performance for the case when one is interested only in forecasting heat index warning level categories.

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arXiv2020

Machine learning for total cloud cover prediction

Accurate and reliable forecasting of total cloud cover (TCC) is vital for many areas such as astronomy, energy demand and production, or agriculture. Most meteorological centres issue ensemble forecasts of TCC, however, these forecasts are often uncalibrated and exhibit worse forecast skill than ensemble forecasts of other weather variables. Hence, some form of post-processing is strongly required to improve predictive performance. As TCC observations are usually reported on a discrete scale taking just nine different values called oktas, statistical calibration of TCC ensemble forecasts can be considered a classification problem with outputs given by the probabilities of the oktas. This is a classical area where machine learning methods are applied. We investigate the performance of post-processing using multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks, gradient boosting machines (GBM) and random forest (RF) methods. Based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts global TCC ensemble forecasts for 2002-2014 we compare these approaches with the proportional odds logistic regression (POLR) and multiclass logistic regression (MLR) models, as well as the raw TCC ensemble forecasts. We further assess whether improvements in forecast skill can be obtained by incorporating ensemble forecasts of precipitation as additional predictor. Compared to the raw ensemble, all calibration methods result in a significant improvement in forecast skill. RF models provide the smallest increase in predictive performance, while MLP, POLR and GBM approaches perform best. The use of precipitation forecast data leads to further improvements in forecast skill and except for very short lead times the extended MLP model shows the best overall performance.

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