The role of Meteorological
Department in Weather and
Climate services
By the team from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation
1.
Alpha Bockari, Ag Director
2.
Augustine Fatorma, Senior Secretary
3.
Ibrahim Sinneh Kamara, Pupil Meteorological
4.
Abubakarr Jalloh, IT Personnel
METEOROLOGICAL
DEPATRMENT-SL
 METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT IS SUPERVISED BY
THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND AVIATION
 Its main roles are:
 to provide Weather and Climate Services for the Safety and
Protection of Life and Property,
 to Secure the Country’s Weather and Climatic Data for Research
Work and Posterity .
 to contribute to the Growth and Development of the Country’s
Economy
MET Dept Contd
 through the provision of necessary Weather
and Climate Services to end-users and
 to fulfill international obligation of weather
and Climatic Data and Information Exchange
and Services
MET Dept Contd.
provision of meteorological services
contributes to the socio-economic
development of nations in order to
1. contributes to the safety of citizens and life in general, as well as
their property from severe weather events
contd
2. help avert potential social and economic devastation from natural
disasters and hasten the mitigation of their impacts.
3. Sustainable development requires that the quality of the nation’s
environment is maintained, the provision of meteorological
services play a vital role in the overall strategy for national
development.
Contd
4. The formulation of many major socio-economic development
projects (e.g. agricultural planning, water supply systems,
transport, infrastructure etc), reliable weather/climatic data are
essential prerequisites for project design while the daily
meteorological data is used in vital sectors like air ,land and sea
travels to safe guard peoples’ lives and property.
Contd
5. successful operation of nearly all projects, once completed, will
in many cases require meteorological support for which
provision must be made at the planning stage.
Timely & Cost efficient provision of
Meteorological services contributes
 safety & well being of citizen and their protection against
severe weather situation & devastation from natural disasters.
 Provision of reliable climatic data to facilitate project design
for agricultural planning and implimentation, water supply
systems, infrastructure, tourism etc.
Climate Variability
 Whilst climate change is typically associated with an increase
in mean global surface temperature, what matters regionally
is the change in seasonal extremes, rainfall, temperature,
drought patterns its consequences on Food Security Human
Health and Living Standard.
 Hence the emphasis on the regional seasonal PRESAO
Forecast especially the JAS Forecast
Change of the temperatures observed
Many observations indicate that the climate evolved/moved during the
last century: The average temperature rose by approximately 0,6°C the
snow-cover and the glacial extents were reduced and hence the sea
level rose from 10 to 20 cm
11
Source: Stern Review
Climate Change Effect on Us
• It is well known that during the last 30 years, the climate of the
West African from the rainforest of Sierra Leone and Liberia to
the Sahelian regions have undergone various changes,
especially in terms of rainfall. This has had large negative
consequences for the poor-resource farmers depending
mainly on rain-fed agriculture and for the regional economy.
• These regions has a high degree of vulnerability to climate
change, including climate variability, owing to its high
sensitivity to changes and a low level of adaptive capacity. A
major uncertainty for the future vulnerability of this region is
the nature and character of projected climate change in the
region and its effect on the biodiversity ranging from the
reduction of both the forested land as well as the animal
sepsis
Effects of Climate Change and Extreme
Weather events
 Land degradation, erosion and desertification
 Loss of bio-diversity
 Degradation of River and Lake Water resources.
 Degradation of coastal maritime ecosystems
 Degradation processes brought about by the development of
mineral
 resources
 Problems of urban and industrial pollution
 Problems relating to the management of towns, settlements and
other establishments
 Health and the environment
 Loss of lives and property
What have the department has done so far
• The Department carried out the Climate Change Project in 2008
which complied the Country’s emission data in accordance with
the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Directed the National Adaption Program of Action (NAPA)
project with other stake holders and line ministries in the
assessment . We approached UNDP through our parent body the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for the digitization
of our Meteorological/Climatological Data. They contracted
three (3) data entry personnel for
14
What we have done contd
• We receive the European Meteorological Satellite
(EUMETSAT) reception station for our service together with
the joint African Monitoring of the Environment for
Sustainable Development (AMESD) of Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security and other line ministries and
organizations. The equipment have been installed at the
Agriculture Ministry (Planning Division) and at the MET
Forecast office at Lungi respectively.
15
What we have done contd
 We have installed five (5) automatic weather stations (at
Freetown, Lungi, Kenema, Njala and Rokpur) from the Spanish
Government/WMO Voluntary Cooperation Programme (VCP)
through the UNDP office. The data are simultaneously received
by the MET and Agric authorities after the respective processing.
The UK Met Office offered the technical service of installation
and training of Meteorological Personnel in handling the
equipment.
16
What we have done contd
• From the NAPA assessment, we came out with the MET
component master plan for the rehabilitation of our previous
stations and for possible expansion of our net work of stations
and other logistics. Part of this was taken on board together with
the requirements from other line ministries (especially the
Agriculture and Food Security ministry) in the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) fund to be implemented by IFAD.
This project will help to alleviate some of our pressing problems
of training and station expansion.
17
What we have done contd
• Due to the shortage of staff and in preparation for the new
stations to be established, the Human Resource Management
Office (HRMO) and the Public Service Commission (PSC)
recruited thirty (30) Meteorological Observers, five (5)
Meteorological Officers and four (4) Pupil Meteorologists. They
have all done the basic weather observation and 15 of the
observers have already been deployed at the Lungi office.
• We are collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Security in FEWSNET/CILSS Food security monitoring and
early warning.
• Our service to the Aviation, Marine, environment, disaster
management etc cannot be overemphasized.
18
What we have done contd
• Our participation in the annual PRESAO July, August and
September (JAS) forecast exercise made us to introduce the
Early Warning Systems and Seasonal Forecasting Mechanism
(Planning/ Training stage). We only hope that as we appealed to
planning and NGO offices, that we will get the sponsorship for at
least one person for the training session in Niamey, Niger in
February, 2013 for us continue this vital service of seasonal
forecasting.
19
The Consensus Process (PRESAO-16)
18 Countries
National
Forecasts
(« local» scales )
9 « Global » Producing
Centres
GCMs
Forecasts
(« large» scales
and SSTs )
Consensus Discussion
Verification
Regional Forecast
Other
Forecasts
What we have done contd
 The help from the UNDP, we have digitized most of our
climatological data so that we can reduce the waiting period
between data request and service to end-users. Donors are
welcome for the completion of this noble project.
21
Challenges
• Farmers need prompt meteorological and climatological
Information.
• The Ranet system provided by ACMAD is very useful for that
since its twenty miles radius broadcast will adequately meet the
local farmer’s need. Please note that we have none at this
moment.
• The Participation in the yearly PRESAO forecast modeling for
our region will greatly enhance service delivery. We need
sponsorship for our personnel for next year's February and
subsequent climate modeling preparations in ACMAD, Niamey.
22
Challenges Contd
 The provision of the Satellite Aviation Data International
Service (SADIS) system will assist not just the aviation wing,
but our general service to all.
 Our storm detecting and rescue logistics radar that was
destroyed at Tower hill needs replacement. This tool will save
lives during boat, air and similar disasters
23
Challenges Contd
 We need Two (2) Ranet Systems for out station data collection. It is





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cheaper than the internet and tailored for MET use.
There is at the moment no SSB set for data dissemination from our out
stations.
We need some 15 SSB sets in each of the districts and regions for
timely data dissemination for the farmers and other end users
There is need for the reopening of 14 automatic stations especially for
rainfall to aid the farmers and for early warning.
The department needs the storm detecting radar in order to help our
fishermen and local boat travelers. This will prevent/ minimize sea
disasters.
We need funds for the external training of the three (3) Pupil
Meteorologist and five (5) Meteorological Officers.
Challenges Contd
 The department’s present official building is very old and partly
dilapidated. Luckily for us we have a vacant land that was used as
our garage before the war. We need to put up a structure there to
house the Meteorological Office, the Climate Change Secretariat
and the Department’s training school. Any help in this direction
is welcome.
 We need capacity building in training for all levels of personnel
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Conclusion- there is need:
 •In scientific, technological, technical, socio-economic and other
research, systematic observation and development of data
archives related to the climate system;
 •In the full, open and prompt exchange or relevant scientific,
technological, technical, socio-economic and social
consequences of various response strategies; and
 •In education, training and public awareness related to climate
change.
Recommendations
Future Cooperation Requirements
 Re-orientation and development of national policies and
programmes to take climate change fully into account in
formulating a sustainable development path
 Enhance climate change education and awareness particularly at
basic cycle in schools
 Rehabilitation of observation networks
 Further capacity building for Sierra Leoneans
Thank you for your attention