Abstract
Abstract. The knowledge on climate variability in parts of Southern Africa is limited because of the low availability of historic and present-day ground-based observations (Niang et al., 2014). However, there is an increased need of climate information for research, climate adaptation measures and climate services. To respond to the challenges of climate change and related issues, Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia have initiated the interdisciplinary regional competence centre SASSCAL, the "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management". As part of the initiative, Germany's national meteorological service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) cooperates with the meteorological services of Angola, Botswana and Zambia in order to improve the management and availability of historical and present-day climate data in these countries. The first results of the cooperation between the German and the Angolan Meteorological Services are presented here. International assessments have shown that improvements of the data management concepts are needed in several countries. The experience of this cooperation can therefore provide hints for comparable activities in other regions.
Highlights
The global climate change issue is stretching the requirements for climate data and data management systems far beyond those originally conceived when the original observational networks were established (WMO, 2011)
During the last decades different Climate Data Management System (CDMS) with diverse development approaches have been in use in developing countries, and the delegates of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Germany had the opportunity to discuss the different options available during a SASSCAL Workshop held in Namibia in April 2014
A new data flow scheme has been developed and implemented, and CLIMSOFT v3.2 has been installed to serve as the core of a proper CDMS, allowing the management of historical and ongoing climate data at INAMET
Summary
The global climate change issue is stretching the requirements for climate data and data management systems far beyond those originally conceived when the original observational networks were established (WMO, 2011). The lack of adequate data and observation systems in Africa seriously hinders the ability of scientists to assess the past and current state of the climate in the region (ACC, 2013). A well-constructed CDMS facilitates all the key processes associated with data collection, quality assurance and archival, and is central to the development of all interactive data and information services (GFCS, 2014) In this context, the SASSCAL initiative supports an activity focused on the improvement of the historical and ongoing climate data management at the NMHS of Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia in cooperation with Germany’s national meteorological service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD). An overview of the status and first results of the cooperation between the DWD and INAMET is presented here
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