In 2019, the Government of Zambia and the World Bank initiated the “Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development” (TRALARD) Project, aimed at supporting the sustainable use of natural resources for livelihoods. One sub-component of TRALARD supports efforts to strengthen the collection and analysis of climate and hydro-meteorological information. Zambia’s existing meteorological network is relatively poor and consists of a mixture of manual and automatic weather stations, with a highly uneven coverage over national territory.
Given that Zambia’s climate is highly variable in space and time, and considering the adverse impacts of climatic change, a more comprehensive and denser network for the collection of meteorological data will provide extremely valuable insights. While enabling accurate spatial climate monitoring, the enhanced AWS coverage will also substantially strengthen weather forecasting in support of Zambian livelihoods, agriculture and water supply.
Campbell Scientific Africa (Pty) Ltd (the “Supplier”) was contracted by Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) for the “Supply, Delivery and Installation of 120 Automatic Weather Stations”. Aquaquest was retained by Campbell Scientific to install 58 of the total 120 weather stations in Southern, Western, Northern and Luapula Provinces.
This project aims at the installation of automated weather stations (AWS) across Zambia to support the collection of climate data, and to monitor and predict changing weather patterns within the country. The stations are essential for predicting and monitoring climate change within Zambia. ZMD staff were trained in the installation and operation of the AWS. Many of the weather stations were installed at schools, where they can also act as a learning tool on weather and climate for the students