KNUST to build database for accurate weather forecasting
The Meteorology and Climate Science Unit of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is to establish a reliable database that will ensure accurate weather forecasting in the country.
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The unit, which is responsible for the training of meteorologists, will help ensure that the database, when established, would have a narrow margin of errors to improve and limit the effects of climate change in Ghana.
The project is being funded by the European Union.
Dubbed ‘Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud interaction in West Africa (DACCIWA)’, it will also help conduct extensive field work in southern West Africa to collect high-quality observations and anthropogenic emissions to impact on health, the ecosystem and the climate.
The Ghanaian scientist on the project who is also the coordinator of the unit, Dr Leonard K. Amekudzi, said the programme would further provide opportunities for students of the unit to enhance their capacities and also position themselves for future challenges in the subject area. Presently there are about 15 undergraduates, three MPhil and three PhD students participating in the measurement campaign.
Significance
Dr Amekudzi indicated during one of the field campaigns that the programme would also provide a wide range of modelling activities that would allow for the assessment of relevant physical and chemical processes to improve on the monitoring of climate and atmospheric compositions in the country.
According to him, massive economic and population growth, coupled with urbanisation, were expected to lead to a tripling of human activities on nature in southern West Africa by 2030.
Dr Amekudzi further indicated that the increase in population and rural-urban drift and other human activities were negatively affecting the fight against climate change and could impact negatively on human existence in the near future.
The coordinator also noted that a complete scientific understanding of the interactions between emissions, clouds, radiation, precipitation and regional circulations would help in appreciating the problem better for appropriate solutions.