“Hotter, Drier, Wetter — Face the Future”

The World Meteorology Day is an annual event normally celebrated along with the World Water Day and the World Forest Day. The theme of these celebrations was “Hotter, Drier, Wetter-Face the Future”. These celebrations took place on March 22, 2016 in Serere district at Serere Township Primary School.

As a key interested stakeholder, the WIMEA-ICT project was invited to participate in these national celebrations. Mary Nsabagwa and Isaac Mugume, the PhD students were sponsored by the project to participate at this event. The Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA), Ministry of Water and Environment, National Forestry Authority, Busitema University, Serere Secondary and Primary schools, Uganda Water and Sanitation Network and Non-Governmental Organisations were among the exhibitors.

The celebration was graced by Hon. Flavia Munaaba, the State Minister for Environment. Munaaba expressed keen interest in the WIMEA-ICT Automatic Weather System (AWS) prototype. “Makerere never stops coming up with new things” she said, as she hailed the project for the innovations. These Ph.D students showcased the project’s first-Generation Automatic Weather Station prototype and explained how it works.

They expounded on how data is transmitted using a mobile phone and unveiled a modern weather shield (which is part of a second-generation Automatic Weather station). They interacted with UNMA and other weather and climate interested partners on many issues including required data formats from these stations, frequency of data exchange and numerical modeling. It was a fruitful engagement for the students and the project.