Thesis from WMO Fellowship Division
Thesis from the WMO Fellowship Division
For several decades, through its fellowship programme, WMO has trained many experts from developing countries. Highly commendable theses/dissertations have been prepared by these fellows in partial fulfillment of requirements for their post-graduate studies.
Given the limited information available to experts and students alike on issues related to meteorology, hydrology and allied disciplines we wish to share as much research related information as possible, through the WMO online library, on the work of the postgraduate fellows. Hence, this online dissemination of excerpts of theses/dissertations prepared by WMO fellows.
We hope readers will find the materials useful. Should you have any inquires, please contact fel(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
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Variability of the West African summer Monsoon and its relation to the SSTA over the Atlantic Ocean
This study investigates spatial and temporal features of the West African Summer Monsoon (WASM) and its relation to the Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA). The variability of the WASM from June to September was analyzed during the period 1960-2013, with methods including EOF analysis of the precipitation anomaly and SSTA and the associated large scale circulation pattern. The result from the first EOF-Mode of the precipitation anomaly which has the highest positive loadings over the region shows that during the summer, the precipitation anomalies are positives in the Sahel and the Sahara. ...
Assessing Agricultural Risk in Africa Using Satellite Data and Land Surface Models
Droughts pose a major risk in most African countries including Ghana where agricultural activities are heavily dependent on rainfall. Efforts at assessing droughts and providing decision support tools to farmers are hampered by a lack of rainfall and other meteorological data over many parts of Africa. Satellite based rainfall measurements have been suggested to fill the rainfall data gaps over Africa to enable effective assessment of droughts. Traditional methods of assessing droughts have been based on statistical formulations that relied mostly on precipitation. This approach to assessing d ...
Assessing the impacts of temporal resolution of precipitation forcing data on the surface energy and water balance
In urban climate research, spatial and temporal variability of precipitation is always a critical element for numerical modelling. However, the effects of temporal resolution of precipitation forcing data has received little attention. Moreover, there has always been a difference practically and theoretically in the availability of precipitation data. This study was carried out to assess the impact of temporal resolution of precipitation forcing data on the modelled surface energy and water balance using available data from a site at the Strand campus of Kings College London. Analysis has been ...
Instability Indices and Heavy Rainfall Forecast in a Maritime Environment
Forecasting heavy rainfall associated with in-situ convective cloud development over small island states is a challenge in operational forecasting as not all numerical models are able to resolve convection at such small scales. Forecasting of such phenomena is mainly based on prevailing local conditions and the use of a plethora of thermodynamic indices derived from the local sounding. This study is an effort to assess the suitability of the different available indices, hereafter referred as traditional indices, to forecast heavy rainfall from local convection, commonly known as pure sea breez ...
Investigating apparent aerosol effects on precipitation in climate model simulations
Aerosols in the atmosphere serve as condensation nuclei for the cloud formation. This brings an important influence on the microphysical properties of cloud water that in turn affect the processes in the formation of precipitation. Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction which simultaneously change cloud albedo interest many studies to find out aerosol impact on precipitation formation. The studies were done by observation measurement and simulation. UK Met Office Unified Model (UM) is one model that includes aerosol direct and indirect effect in the NWP configuration which leads to study aero ...
Rainfall characteristics over Togo and their related atomospheric circulation anomalies: In Journal of Environmental & Agricultural Sciences, 5:34-48
This study attempts to reveal features of rainfall over Togo, in relationship to the
prevailing atmospheric circulation. The study employed correlation analysis and composite analysis in
the analysis of rainfall, sea surface temperature, wind, and humidity. Empirical orthogonal functions
(EOF) analysis was employed in this study. The years: 1989, 1991, 1995, 2003 and 2007 were
identified to be anomalously wet years while 1982, 1983, 1990, 1992, 2001 and 2006 fall in the
anomalously dry years’ category. The dominant mode of variability exhibits a dipole patter ...
The impacts of fog and thunderstorms on aircraft operations : a case study of Wilson Airport Nairobi Kenya
Abongnwi Ngwa Lumfuh - 2014Adverse weather is the main cause of the alterations to operations at Wilson airport. At Wilson airport, occurrence of fog and low ceiling, cross winds, thunderstorm and heavy rainfall are considered the main causes of adverse weather hampering the aircraft operations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of fog and thunderstorm on aircraft operations at Wilson airport. The impact is measured in terms of delay, diversion, cancelation and economic value of these actions. The data on fog and thunderstorm data was obtained from Kenya Meteorological Service (Climatological secti ...
Report of the three months Attachment at the European Centre for Medium-Range
The attachment took place at the ECMWF headquarters in Reading, United Kingdom from 29th April-30th July 2013. The program was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Assessment of prone areas to heavy rainfall in Tanzania and its associate circulation anomalies during march-may rainfall season
Mafuru Kantamla Biseke - College of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 2013Tanzania is one among the most other sub-Sahara African countries where Agriculture production is strongly depending on rainfall, a key factor which determine the livelihood of 70% of the total population. An adequate amount of rainfall per season reasonably help the farmer to accomplish his/her goal in a positive way, while an excessive amount of rainfall impacts on both people’s livelihood and agricultural production leading into reduction in manpower and nation’s GDP. In recent years, Tanzania suffered a successive scenario of heavy rainfall over different areas of the country, the majority ...
Comparison of different rainfall inputs in a continuous rainfall-runoff model – a case study for Argentina
Buzzella Maria Mercedes; Institute of Water Resources Management, Hydrology and Agricultural Hydraulic Engineering - Leibniz Universität, 2013Precipitation data is the main input parameter in order to simulate rainfall-runoff processes, since it is strongly dependent on the accuracy of the spatial and temporal representation of the precipitation. In regions where rainfall stations are scarce, additional data sources may be considered necessary. In this manner, remote sensing from satellite platforms has provided a satisfactory alternative due to its global coverage. Although a wide range of satellite-based estimations of precipitation is available, not all the satellite products are suitable for all regions. Most of the studies perf ...
Rainfall and temperature characteristic over Zambia
Temperature and rainfall are important elements of climate Zambia where several sectors of the economy depend mostly on water resources. Zambia normally receives the bulk of its annual rainfall from November to March (NDJFM) as the ITCZ moves south and experience high temperatures. The major objective of the study was to investigate the rainfall and temperature characteristic over Zambia.
WMO fellowships supported by the UK Voluntary Co-operation Programme - Case study : Capacity development through education and training
Weku Shilenje Zablon - The Met.Office, 2013
Analysis of heavy rainfall events over Dar es Salaam city: A necessity to lessen flood risks
Floods are a threat to many cities especially in the developing countries and cities found near the coastal areas where the population pressure, unplanned settlements and poor infrastructures are most evident. Climate change also poses a higher flood risks in these areas due to increased frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events. In this study analysis of extreme rainfall over Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania was done. The analysis employed empirical as well as hydrological frequency modeling to annual maximum daily rainfall events for 5 of the meteorological stations found within the c ...
Assessment and modelling of climate variability and change in Cameroon (central Africa)
Cameroon is located on the west coast of central Africa. It is home to about twenty millions inhabitants relying upon rain‐fed agriculture for food security. With the increasing pressure of climate change, other activities for sustainable development such as transport, energy, water, livestock and urban settlement are also facing an increasing threat due to extreme climate and weather events. In some cases today’s climate extremes are expected to become tomorrow’s ‘normal’ weather. This assumption stresses the need of understanding the past, the current and hopefully to project local climate b ...
Bivariate analysis and synthesis of flood events for the design of hydraulic structures – a case study for Argentina
A bibliographic review of the state of art of flood estimation techniques shows the importance of studying floods as multivariate events. The aim of this work is to discuss whether a multivariate analysis is necessary for designing dams or for assessing the adequacy of spillways belonging to existing dams. A multivariate approach offers a range of possible events associated to a joint return period, which can be used in a design stage. The multivariate criterion includes information related with the dependence structure linking the flood variables. This dependence is involved in the generation ...
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