Introducing the CIRDA Experts

UNDP's Multi Country Support Programme to Strengthen Climate Information and Resilient Development in Africa (CIRDA) is pleased to introduce Dr. John Snow who has recently joined the CIRDA Team as Chief Technical Advisor on Meteorology, Climate Monitoring and Forecasting.

The CIRDA Programme was launched this year to provide support to Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia in their work to enhance national climate services to collect, analyse and disseminate climate information to end users as a key tool in long term planning and adaptation.

To meet this objective, the CIRDA Programme has engaged with key experts in the field of climate information to provide ongoing specialized assistance to CIRDA supported countries. Chief Technical Advisors in the CIRDA Team are available to provide expert advice to partner countries on innovative surface observing technologies, weather forecasting and climate prediction services, applied meteorology and climatology as well as public-private sector collaborations.

Dr. Snow is a Regents' Profesor Emeritus of Meteorology and Dean Emeritus of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences in the University of Oklahoma. His research has included many aspects of meteorological measurements such as the design and evaluation of meteorological instruments, optimal deployment of surface networks and application of weather radars of various types. He has chaired national and international groups setting standards in these areas and currently chairs the Technical Advisory Committee for the National Weather Service's Radar Operations Center.

Dr. Snow directs the University of Oklahoma's Office of Weather Programs and Projects, which has provided training and technical assistance to national hydrometeorological services in Korea, Croatia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Dr. Snow is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a member of the Royal Meteorological Society of the United Kingdom. He is a certified Consulting Meteorologist (certification by the American Meteorological Society).