Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (11/2017 – 03/2022)
On 25 February 2022 at 8pm on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria, the rain began.
Although this was the beginning of a severe storm that would pummel Lake Victoria with intense rain when the fishermen were out in their boats, the forecasting models the Kenyan Meteorological Department used didn’t predict the heavy rainfall that was about to occur.
White Paper published on the Potential of Operational Weather Prediction to Save Lives and Improve Livelihoods and Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Urgent investment in African weather forecasting aids weather-and climate-resilient future and contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals across the continent: joint paper by the GCRF African SWIFT and ForPAc SHEAR projects.
The University of Leeds and the University of Reading have both been awarded Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in this year’s round of awards, for their work on weather and climate, and SWIFT has been cited in both of the prizes. The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are the UK’s highest national honour for universities, and for a project to contribute to two awards is a remarkable achievement.
Between 7th and 25th October 2021, African SWIFT Postdoc Researcher, Bethwel Kipkoech Mutai, was invited to teach the Weather Systems module, as part of the MSc. Atmospheric and Climate Science programme at the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda in Kigali. Through structured regional and international collaborations, the University of Nairobi … Continue Reading
Patterns of soil moisture, observed by satellite, are helping us to pinpoint the locations where thunderstorms will form. Testbed 3 is pioneering the use of these land surface observations as part of the process of ‘nowcasting’ for the Sahel zone in Africa. Nowcasting refers to a forecasting process where we provide short-term predictions of severe … Continue Reading