Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, this year’s science meeting, SWIFT Progress: Transforming Weather Forecasting Science in Africa, is taking place entirely online throughout the month of June.
To kick off the annual gathering and to make the most of our new online format, the African SWIFT team is pleased to host a free webinar on 2 June, featuring speakers from the Climate Information Services for Increased Resilience and Productivity in Senegal (CINSERE), Forecast-based Preparedness Action (ForPAc) and High Impact Weather Lake System (HIGHWAY) projects.
During the hour-long session, lead researchers from each project will share key insights in forecasting and climate resilience, including lessons, achievements and pathways forward.
Webinar details
Date & Time: Tuesday, 2 June | 2:00pm – 3:00pm (BST)
About the projects:
CINSERE seeks to increase the resilience and productivity of targeted Senegalese farming, pastoralist and fisher communities in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence in the face of climate variability and change through the improved provision, communication, and use of climate information services. The goal of CINSERE is to capacitate active stakeholders to develop and communicate tailored and salient climate information services in support of farmers’, fisheries’ and pastoralists’ communities, including members of both genders, in their decision making.
ForPAc is an inter-disciplinary project which aims to improve Early Warning Systems by improving weather-climate forecasts and developing a systematic approach to mobilize disaster-preparedness before hazardous weather events using forecasting information.
HighWAY is a three year project (2017 – 2020) which brings scientists and users together to develop an improved regional warning system, with the aim to reduce loss of life and damage resulting from severe convection and strong winds on Lake Victoria and in the East African region.
Guest speakers: Issa Ouedraogo, Emmah Mwangi & Jim Wilson
Dr. Issa Ouedraogo is a Scientist at the CGIAR Research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), West Africa regional Program, based at ICRISAT-Bamako (Mali). He is coordinating the CINSERE Project based in Dakar, Senegal.
Emmah Mwangi is a lead researcher on the ForPAc project. She is currently seconded from the Kenya Met Department to the Kenya Red Cross Society.
Jim Wilson is a Senior Scientist Emeritus at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research and a lead researcher on the HIGHWAY project. He has been conducting research with weather radars for 60 years and is internationally recognized as a leader in nowcasting and the use of Doppler radar to investigate mesoscale phenomena and its use for operational weather forecasting. In recent years he has been very active in the transfer of radar and nowcasting technology through software packages and training to Weather Services in Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Africa and China. He was an active member of the Nowcasting Working Group of the World Weather Research Program that has conducted Forecast Demonstration Projects for both the Sydney and Beijing Olympic Games. Recently he has been studying the evolution of thunderstorms over Lake Victoria in East Africa through the HIGHWAY project. This research is directed at developing severe thunderstorm warnings for Lake Victoria utilizing radar, satellite, lightning networks, upper air soundings and surface data.