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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Capturing Recent Climate Variations in the Extreme Southern Caribbean with Projections for the Near and Medium Terms: A Downscaling Approach for Trinidad and Tobago
To mitigate adverse effects of future extremes in climate in the extreme southern Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago require a sound understanding of the science of the climate, along with realistic and region specific projection outputs; in order that an effective response can be provided by respective regions. As a step towards achieving this, downscaling GCM outputs through RCMs is useful at the local and regional scales because it can provide finer detailed and more user friendly output required for planning. Moreover, it is an avenue through which more profound understanding of the ...
Capturing Recent Climate Variations in the Extreme Southern Caribbean with Projections for the Near and Medium Terms: A Downscaling Approach for Trinidad and Tobago
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Published by: University of Reading - Department of meteorology ; 2012
To mitigate adverse effects of future extremes in climate in the extreme southern Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago require a sound understanding of the science of the climate, along with realistic and region specific projection outputs; in order that an effective response can be provided by respective regions. As a step towards achieving this, downscaling GCM outputs through RCMs is useful at the local and regional scales because it can provide finer detailed and more user friendly output required for planning. Moreover, it is an avenue through which more profound understanding of the science of the climate common to southern Caribbean region can be achieved, which is a prerequisite for effective decision is making in the region. This study addressed questions related to whether PRECIS, a regional climate modelling system, has the skill and quality, to reproduce recent and realistic near and medium term future climates of the extreme southern Caribbean with some focus on Trinidad and Tobago. The findings of the research revealed several observations in relation to the aim of the research. Temperature and rainfall variability in the region have changed in the recent past and given the observed trends are likely to continue changing in the future but with amplifications. PRECIS can adequately reproduce these changes along with the known annual cycle patterns of temperature and rainfall in the ESC and Trinidad and Tobago.
Notes: If you wish to download the full text, please contact library(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Available online for logged-in users) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Climate ; Climate change ; Climate projection ; Caribbean ; Trinidad and Tobago ; Thesis - WMO Fellowship Division
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Climate Prediction and Monitoring for Burundi
“The dominant pattern of Burundi rainfall is the seasonal move of the dominant Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), the Congo air mass and the interconnection with EL Nino/Southern oscillation (ENSO) phenomena. Much of Burundi experiences a bimodal seasonal distribution of rainfall with maxima occurring in the March- April and November. The Interannual variability of rainfall in Burundi shows interesting association with atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. We investigate the variability of rainfall using OND (October, November, December) and MAM (March, April, May) precipitation in Burundi du ...
Aaron Ntiranyibagira ; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States)
Published by: NOAA ; 2012“The dominant pattern of Burundi rainfall is the seasonal move of the dominant Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), the Congo air mass and the interconnection with EL Nino/Southern oscillation (ENSO) phenomena. Much of Burundi experiences a bimodal seasonal distribution of rainfall with maxima occurring in the March- April and November. The Interannual variability of rainfall in Burundi shows interesting association with atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. We investigate the variability of rainfall using OND (October, November, December) and MAM (March, April, May) precipitation in Burundi during the 30-yr interval 1979-2010 and its relationship with the Global Sea Surface Temperatures over Atlantic, Indian and Pacific ocean, Mean sea level pressure (MSLP), Zonal winds at 850 HPA and the Geopotential height at 500 Hpa.”
Notes: If you wish to download the full text, please contact library(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Available online for logged-in users) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Climate ; Climate monitoring ; Precipitation ; Climate prediction ; Burundi ; Thesis - WMO Fellowship Division
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Climate Prediction and Monitoring for Egypt
Apart from the northern coast, most of Egypt is desert. However, the northern coastal region experiences some precipitation mainly during winter. We investigate the variability of wintertime (December, January and February) precipitation in North Egypt during the 30-yr interval 1976-2005 and its relationship with the North Atlantic Oscillation during winter and subtropical jet stream.
Ebrahim Mostafa Awatif ; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States)
Published by: NOAA ; 2012Apart from the northern coast, most of Egypt is desert. However, the northern coastal region experiences some precipitation mainly during winter. We investigate the variability of wintertime (December, January and February) precipitation in North Egypt during the 30-yr interval 1976-2005 and its relationship with the North Atlantic Oscillation during winter and subtropical jet stream.
Notes: If you wish to download the full text, please contact library(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Available online for logged-in users) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Climate ; Climate monitoring ; Precipitation ; Climate prediction ; Egypt ; Thesis - WMO Fellowship Division
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Climate Prediction and Monitoring for Uganda
Uganda is located between latitudes 1.5 0 S to 4.5 0 N and longitudes 28o E to 35 0 E. It contains complex topography that includes large Lakes, Rivers, Great Rift Valley and Mountains, and supports varied wildlife of scientific and economic value. Due to its Equatorial location, this country is expected to receive abundant rainfall throughout the year. This is, however, not the case as frequent occurrences of years of insufficient rainfall for agricultural activities have been observed. Rainfall over Uganda exhibits large spatial and temporal variability. The inter-annual variability has feat ...
Herbert Kikonyogo ; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States)
Published by: NOAA ; 2012Uganda is located between latitudes 1.5 0 S to 4.5 0 N and longitudes 28o E to 35 0 E. It contains complex topography that includes large Lakes, Rivers, Great Rift Valley and Mountains, and supports varied wildlife of scientific and economic value. Due to its Equatorial location, this country is expected to receive abundant rainfall throughout the year. This is, however, not the case as frequent occurrences of years of insufficient rainfall for agricultural activities have been observed. Rainfall over Uganda exhibits large spatial and temporal variability. The inter-annual variability has featured extreme rainfall events like floods and droughts with their associated socio-economic impacts. This has made rainfall an important climatic parameter that must be considered in economic planning for the country.
The objective of this study was to forecast the March – May (MAM) rainfall over Uganda using the empirical statistical models.Notes: If you wish to download the full text, please contact library(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Available online for logged-in users) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Climate ; Climate monitoring ; Precipitation ; Climate prediction ; Uganda ; Thesis - WMO Fellowship Division
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Climate Response over Selected Urban and Desert Areas in Northern China
Many studies carried out have shown evidence of regional temperature and precipitation variability along with global climate changes. A key issue is whether these variability follow trends that are uniform or others have increasing trends while others decreasing trend. And this study was carried out using Mann-Kendall trend test method and regression analysis method with the data observed by a total of 20stations to investigate the trends of temperature and precipitation in northern China. 10stations were selected from urban areas (section 1.4.2: table 1.1) and another 10stations were selected ...
Published by: Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology ; 2012
Many studies carried out have shown evidence of regional temperature and precipitation variability along with global climate changes. A key issue is whether these variability follow trends that are uniform or others have increasing trends while others decreasing trend. And this study was carried out using Mann-Kendall trend test method and regression analysis method with the data observed by a total of 20stations to investigate the trends of temperature and precipitation in northern China. 10stations were selected from urban areas (section 1.4.2: table 1.1) and another 10stations were selected from desert areas of China (section 1.4.2: table 1.2). The data for temperature (maximum temperature, minimum temperature) and precipitation was obtained for these 20stations for the period 1981-2010 (section 3.1). [...]
Notes: If you wish to download the full text, please contact library(at)wmo.int (Please replace (at) by @).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Available online for logged-in users) (ill., charts, maps)Tags: Climate ; Climate change ; China ; Thesis - WMO Fellowship Division
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Lesotho Climate Change Projections
Lesotho is a small mountainous country is southern Africa. Lesotho is a temperate region that has four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. It is among countries that are vulnerable to climate change impacts. As such, future climate projections are vital to the country. Lesotho has submitted her first and the only report (FNC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2000. The report includes vulnerability and adaptation (V&A) assessment developed using the first generation low resolution Global Climate Models (GCMs) output. This study was aimed ...
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Projection of crop yield in Bhutan under climate change using PRECIS regional climate model
Bhutan is classified as one of the forty-eight least developed countries with farmers comprising more than two-thirds of its total population. The agriculture sector, which is a significant contributor to the country’s gross domestic product, has been vulnerable to extreme climate events in recent decades. As an effort to address the potential challenges it will face under climate change, this thesis projects the yields of three primary crops grown in Bhutan, rice, wheat and maize, for the period 2030 to 2050, based on climate projections by the PRECIS regional climate model.
In this st ...
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Southern African rainfall physical mechanisms and projected Climate Change with a special focus on Zimbabwe
Aimed at understanding the physical mechanisms driving rainfall systems in southern Africa with a particular focus on Zimbabwe, this research is a step towards improving the representation of those systems in Climate Models leading to improved Rainfall projections. Because RCMs such as PRECIS are good at resolving subtle systems which modify local climates and possibly mask the anticipated anthropogenic induced (rainfall) change, its use in regions such as Zimbabwe that have complex terrain is crucial. Understanding the physical mechanisms that control rainfall in the current climate also prov ...
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Storm surges and coastal erosion in Bangladesh - State of the system, climate change impacts and 'low regret' adaptation measures
The effects of global environmental change, including coastal flooding stemming from storm surges as well as reduced rainfall in drylands and water scarcity, have detrimental effects on countries and megacities in the costal regions worldwide. Among these, Bangladesh with its capital Dhaka is today widely recognised to be one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change and its triggered associated impacts. Natural hazards that come from increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones are expected to increase as climate changes, each seriously affecting agriculture, water & fo ...
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Verification of mobile weather alert forecasts over Lake Victoria in Uganda
Several studies suggest that weather patterns over Lake Victoria are highly variable, with wind gusts in the vicinity of thunderstorms suddenly thrashing up high waves capable of capsizing small fishing boats. In order to improve safety on the lake, the Mobile Weather Alert (MWA) service is implemented by utilising mobile phone technology to provide daily weather forecasts that reduces vulnerability of fishermen to weather hazards. This service was developed as a pilot scheme under the WMO Severe Weather Forecast Demonstration Project (SWFDP). An evaluation of MWA forecasts over Lake Victoria ...
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Assessement of selected global models in short range forecasting over West Africa: case study of Senegal
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; ANAMS ; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - WMO, 2011Severe weather events in West Africa are associated mainly with meso-scale thunderstorms and squall lines. Forecasting such severe weather to reduce the risk of hazards is one of the challenges faced by many met services. However, the recent progress in the area of numerical weather prediction has enabled some countries to forecast these events in a better way.
Due to lack of capacity, many of the West African countries were not able to use numerical weather prediction systems effectively in their day to day forecasting activities. The CPC/African Desk has been playing big role in buil ...
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Climate Prediction and Monitoring for Tunisia
Ben Mansour Maher; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Center of Environnement Prediction (NCEP) - NOAA, 2011"To better understand the variability of rainfall in Tunisia, it was evident to treat series of data of around tens years. And to do this I used a set of Fortran programs and scripts Grads to represent a historic of 30 years of daily rainfall over the period 1978-2007 from 12 stations of the observing networks in Tunisia."
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Diagnosis of September-November Droughts/Floods over Uganda and the associated circulation anomalies
Uganda has experienced a number of extreme weather and climate events in the form of floods and droughts. In a number of cases, flood events associated with heavy rainfall have been followed immediately by droughts that tend to persist for several seasons. These events have always had devastating impacts on various sectors of the country's economy. The impacts include destruction of infrastructure, loss of life and property and many other far reaching socio-economic impacts. The impact of these extreme events can be greatly reduced through good understanding of previous climatic events and the ...
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Empirical analysis of temperature change in Sri Lanka during the last 140 years (1871-2010)
Sujeewa Kanda Durage; Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology ; College of Science - University of the Philippines, 2011Climatologists and meteorologists in Sri Lanka observe that ground temperature measurements in many weather stations have risen and people are experiencing more episodes of warmer weather. Sri Lanka is a country vulnerable to warming or rise in temperature; in particular its economic development is mostly dependent on agriculture, which can be severely affected by large and abrupt changes in temperature. This study was carried out to detect and characterize changes in surface temperature in the last 140 years, as a precursor of climate change in Sri Lanka. Daily maximum and minimum temperature ...
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Intercomparison of Models - Verification of Moderate Rainfall over Nigeria in the Summer of 2010
The science of weather forecasting is only as good as its ability to produce results. Models are some of the tools meteorologists have come to depend on to help them in forecasting and the dependability as well as reliability of a model is measured by its ability to track and forecast ahead of time a given event. Thus this study looked at the inter comparison of four models namely; GFS, ECMWF, UKMET and METEOFRANCE models, three of which are mostly used by the forecast offices of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.
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