Uganda Pioneers Lightning-Based Early Warning System

New Automatic Weather Stations Installed on Cell-Phone Towers Improve Storm Forecasts and Protect Lives

By Pascal Onegiu Okello

KAMPALA - Uganda’s weather reporting is destined to become one of the best in the East African region after the installation of a network of five all-in-one Total Solutions Automatic Weather Stations (TSAWS).

The five stations, which include a total lightning detection system, will provide improved weather reports, issue early warnings for fast-acting lightning storms, connect Uganda with regional monitoring systems and improve the country’s overall sustainability of investments in climate information services.

The TSAWSs, which were procured by the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) through the UNDP-supported Strengthening Climate Information and Early Warning Systems Project, will work in concert with six already existing lightning sensors from the “Pilot Project on Severe Weather Now-casting Based on Lightning Detection in Lake Victoria Region.” This brings the total number of TSAWS sensors in Uganda to eleven.

The increased number of total lightning detection stations will now provide coverage for the Central, Eastern and Northern region of the country, and hopefully reduce the number of lightning fatalities in the country, which has been noted to have more lightning fatalities per year than anywhere else in the world.

Lightning strikes killed over 205 primary school children between 2012 and 2013. Apart from lightning, fast-acting storms and unpredicted high winds are also a cause of worry as some estimates show that around 5,000 people perish each year on Lake Victoria due to them.

The Total Solutions AWS will also integrate lightning data from neighboring networks in Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania, making for improved regional cooperation in early warning systems.

All this is part of the Government of Uganda’s efforts towards building early warning systems, with the support of UNDP’s Programme on Climate Information for Resilient Development in Africa (CIRDA) and funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF)’s Least Developed Countries Fund.

A Focus on Sustainability
In an effort to ensure that the stations are able to work well, UNMA has partnered with local telecommunications companies, which allowed them to install the TSAWSs on their towers in the five districts of Kaliro, Sironko, Napak, Kotido and Agago (Otuke).

This not only reduced installation costs but also ensures that the stations have a continuous supply of power and communication for monitoring them as well as security from vandalism.

In addition, Earth Networks, a private weather services provider that was procured to provide the equipment, also integrated this new-generation of weather-monitoring equipment into UNMA’s existing monitoring system.

They also trained seven UNMA technicians on how to install the stations so that they are not only able carry on this installation process but also monitor it for efficient use.

“During the first installation in Kaliro, as we completed the assembly of the sensor on the ground and prepared for the hoisting, we observed some rain clouds in the distance. Since we heard no thunder, we assumed it to be safe to send the rigger up to begin the installation. However, the Earth Networks project manager logged into the WeatherBug App and saw lightning activity within 3km of the site. He advised that we wait a few minutes before proceeding,” Georgie George, Alternative Technologies Specialist for the CIRDA Programme, said.

He added that using the App enabled them to make an informed decision that kept them safe from the heavy downpour and lightning.

Real-time thunderstorm rainfall intensity estimates as
visualized through the computing infrastructure of the
Pilot Project on Severe Weather Nowcasting Based
on Total Lightning Detection in Lake Victoria Region.

How the System Works
The early warning system installed in Uganda is based on networks of real-time, automatic weather stations installed on existing mobile telecommunication towers and equipped with total lightning sensors. Real-time communications are achieved through a GSM/3G/4G capable modem. This means weather reports will be shared with UNMA every minute, allowing for the creation of early alerts on fast-acting lightning storms.

The technology generates polygons where
dangerous thunderstorms are active. These polygons can be used by
NHMS to issue early warnings to fisherman and
lake-side communities likely affected by these storms.

In-situ observation data is integrated into cloud-based data repositories as well as nowcasting and numerical weather prediction systems. This solution provides easy access for National Hydro-Meteorological Services (NHMS) such as UNMA to surface observation and forecast data for historical analysis, as well as real-time, current weather conditions and observations.

Displaying data in real time from Uganda’s five new AWS.
The network is already picking up intense
lightning activity in the northwest and
northeast regions of the country. This visualization is available
on the Earth Network tools
such as StreamerRT (PC Based) and the
Mobile application - WeatherBug.

If all the stations are operating with uninterrupted electrical power and internet communications, the pilot network around Lake Victoria provides a cloud-to-ground lightning detection efficiency of over 95 percent for the high resolution area.

It also provides intra-cloud detection efficiency of over 60 to 70 percent in the region, which enables key information on storm development and behavior to be detected in time. When working at maximum capacity, the system provides detailed total lightning data for storm cell identification and tracking in the region and serves as a tool for monitoring of storm intensity, position and movement. Lightning location accuracy is 200-300 meters within the region and less than 400 meters well beyond.

This information is then processed through cloud-computing infrastructure to create an integrated early warning solution. All the data points and layers are visually presented in a specialised display environment, which is utilized by the National Hydro-Meteorological Services (NHMS) to aid in the issuance of early warnings.

Next Steps

The new technology has introduced and aims to sustain total situational awareness across the region with real-time tracking and automated alerts of impending hazards. This means that timely and localized decisions on the issuance of early warnings can be made without having to install expensive, hard-to-maintain weather radar systems across the region.

The need for real-time data products and services requires that UNMA staff be trained to cope with the technological requirements for operation and maintenance, as well as the analysis and interpretation of data.

The new data sets, however, present an opportunity for developing new tailored weather information products for the emerging new markets, which in the long term will help to develop the economic potential and financial sustainability of UNMA.

In the long-term, the public-private partnership with Earth Networks has already delivered $500,000 in co-financing through the donation of assets, hardware and services by the company. When fully implemented this partnership has the potential to deliver an additional $1 million in shared revenue.

Learn More 

With financing from the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Country Countries Fund, and supported by UNDP and the Ministry of of Water and Environment, the Strengthening Climate Information and Early Warning Systems (SCIEWS) project in Uganda aims to support adaptation planning via an enhanced climate monitoring network and early warning systems. Securing, transferring and installing critical technologies, as well as developing and integrating the necessary systems for climate change-related information in decision-making processes, the project is working to increase the capacity of the national early warning network to forewarn and rapidly respond to extreme climate events. 

3-2-1 Innovation

Airtel Uganda and Human Network International to Communicate Free Public Service Information via Mobile Phones

By Montserrat Xilotl 

Information can save lives. However, for this happen information must reach its intended target audience. Access to life saving information is not a trivial matter particularly when looking to communicate to isolated or rural populations in the development world.

The advent of mobile telecommunication, has created new opportunities in reaching previously isolated communities particularly in Africa. In the past 10 years, Africa has become the world's second most connected region by mobile subscription. Around 720 million Africans own mobile phones and in countries like Uganda there are more mobile phones than light bulbs (as quoted recently by Vodafone).  With this rapid rate of absorption, efforts are being made to develop techniques to reach end users with critical information through mobile phones.
 
As access to reliable data services in smartphones is still limited due to developing infrastructure, solutions through the use of voice services, SMS texting and unstructured supplementary services data (USSD) have shown potential in communicating vital information to African populations. The use of voice messaging is particularly promising as it is able to reach populations with low levels of literacy. The NGO, Human Network International has developed a solution that provides public service information through the use of  voice recordings available on demand (push) by mobile phone users. This service called 3-2-1, is offered in Malawi and Madagascar vial local telephone companies at no costs to users.

Recently, HNI was approached by Airtel’s office in Uganda looking to expand this service to its Uganda users. The CIRDA Program was a proud matchmaker to this agreement that will  come together by the end of 2015. HNI and Airtel’s agreement is a wonderful example of the potential of establishing win-win partnerships with the private sector to meet development goals. While, HNI packages the information, Airtel provides the service to its mobile phone subscribers at no cost thus becoming a more attractive option in a highly competitive telecom market. For example, in Malawi, users of the 3-2-1service have proven to be more loyal subscribers and have even incremented their use of voice and text services.

For more information on HNI’s 3-2-1 service, check out their presentation on the CIRDA website or contact David McAfee.


Learn More

Win-Win Solutions: Linking Climate Information with the Telecommunications Sector

By Montserrat Xilotl

Sierra Leone

Negotiating and building win-win solutions is an essential component for sustainable development, where identifying common solutions and creative partnerships can go a long way to boost profits and build more resilient lives. Identifying win-win solutions that bring together smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities with the ever-growing African telecommunications sector is a giant, in-your-face win-win solution that can produce lasting impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people while providing an attractive opportunity for the private sector.  But making it happen is easier said than done.

During various CIRDA Workshop and events, the CIRDA Team has found promising opportunities for establishing partnerships with local mobile telecommunication providers.

Mobile telephones are widely used in the developing world, with Africa in the midst of a mobile revolution. In the past 10 years, Africa has become the world's second most connected region by mobile subscription. Currently 720 million Africans own a mobile phone, and it is expected that this year the number of cell phones on the continent will exceed the population. Mobile phones and mobile technologies thus provide an ideal platform to communicate early warnings and other vital climate information to end users in a seamless fashion.  

Innovative uses of mobile phone communication technologies for collection of weather data are being explored – for example, the company Telecel Faso in Burkina Faso is working with the NHMS in Burkina Faso to test the use of rainfade technology to produce data on localized precipitation equivalent to that of radar technology at a fraction of the cost.

In addition, the ubiquitous towers used for mobile telecommunication can provide a secure location for national hydro meteorological services (NHMS) to site equipment and facilitate the collection and transmission of observational data. Research has shown that the locations of many such towers are indeed suitable for the collection of representative weather data.

All too often, the greatest challenge to the NHMS staff lies on how best to approach and successfully engage mobile telecommunication providers. Answers lie in identifying win-win solutions that are attractive to both NHMS and the mobile telecommunications provider.

Recently a presenter at a CIRDA workshop shared the following graph; the data displayed are consistent with similar CIRDA Team presentations during past events. The plot supports the notion that that once reliable, useful weather information becomes readily available via phone, the demand for phones and the amount of air-time used goes up. 

This has certainly been the case in the US, Europe, Japan and India. The graph indicates that 39% of feature phone users routinely accessed weather info via their phones; only on-line games exceeded that degree of usage. The experience in other companies is similar.

This points to potential win-win opportunities for partnerships between NHMS and mobile phone companies in which the public benefits from reliable, timely and readily available weather information while mobile phone companies add a service of high value to consumers thus increase their demand. Increased demand and air-time use in turn grows revenues and has the potential to expand networks.

Of course, for this potential opportunity to be realized it requires that mobile phone providers develop applications that provide a quality service. NHMS need to be prepared to provide appropriate products and services that are packaged for the dissemination through mobile phones. The NHMS’s do have competition in this area – several of the major global weather companies are willing to provide mobile phone providers with basic product streams. Programmes like CIRDA are working with national NHMS’s to enhance their capacity to produce this type of information.  

Where there is demand, there is opportunity. Research indicates that there is an unmet demand for weather information provided through mobile phone services. The potential upside for the mobile phone company will drive the development of the necessary phone applications.  The question in the end becomes, who will be the first to provide the information and data streams that will drive these applications?