Findings

After several surveys that were conducted with focus on weather observers at Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) and communication officers at the Entebbe National Messaging Switching Centre (NMC). We found out that the current structure of data flow was lacking .

Communication officers are tasked with transmitting weather data to Regional Telecommunication Network, which is in Nairobi. Intervals of 30 minutes, the weather data is transmitted. Before, transmission, the communications officer receives weather data in alpha numeric format either by email, text or phone call. Delays occur while receiving this data, which result into transmission of data from only stations that provided the weather data. These delays are attributed to:-
  • Shortage of SMS bundles
  • Limited access to Internet
  • Poor connectivity (Network coverage)
Weather forecasters at UNMA intend to adopt a new method of making forecasts,warning and watches called Data Assimilation. Data Assimilation the technique by which observations are combined with Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) products and their respective error statistics to provide an improved estimate of the atmospheric state. While using this technique, local data is required in a specific format (little_r). Majority of forecasters acknowledged that this data was not readily available for them to use.

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