Tropical Meteorology of West and East Africa – SWIFT and YESS International Summer School 2019

Kwame Nkrumah University, Kumasi, Ghana 21 JULY – 2 AUGUST 2019

An exciting two-week International Summer School on Tropical Meteorology over West and East Africa took place at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, to train the next generation of scientists in tropical meteorology and forecasting techniques. The International Summer School was organised by the African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (African SWIFT) and the Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) Community. Teaching was carried out by International experts in the field of tropical meteorology, from both academia and operational centres across the world. Daily lectures in African meteorology covered a wide variety of themes, followed by practical sessions and daily weather forecast discussions, giving a hands-on learning experience designed to build technical forecasting skills.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Summer School, it is anticipated that all students will have:
1. Improved understanding of weather phenomena in West and East Africa.
2. Understanding and applying analysis techniques to characterise and understand
high impact weather (HIW) over Africa.
3. First-hand experience of different forecasting techniques.
4. Appreciation of the stakeholder’s perspectives.
5. Improved career skills such as leadership, teamwork, presenting, networking,
and international collaboration.

Confirmed Speakers

Prof Douglas Parker, University of Leeds, UK
Dr Benjamin Lamptey, Cheney Fellow, University of Leeds, UK
Prof Leonard Amekudzi, KNUST, Ghana
Prof Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, Botswana International University, Botswana
Prof Peter Knippertz, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Prof Andreas Fink, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Dr Joseph Mutemi, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Dr Vincent Ajayi, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
Dr Elijah Adefisan, African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development ACMAD