6-8 November 2018, Beijing, China Nepal Shanti Kandel Senior Divisional Meteorologist Meteorological Forecasting Division Department of Hydrology and Meteorology RA II WIGOS Workshop 6-8 November 2018, Beijing, China

Outline vi. Remarks Introduction to Nepal and DHM Physical context of Nepal National requirements for observations Summary of national observing capabilities Status of National implementation of WIGOS vi. Remarks

Introduction to Nepal Short overview of the country Location: 800 04’ to 880 12’ E and 260 22’ to 300 27’ N; Small land- locked country between China and India. Area: 147,181 sq. km Population: 26,494,504 - national population census 2011; In 2018, 29 million (estimated) Climate: Diverse climatic conditions, Karki el al., 2015 classified climate of Nepal into 8 different groups.

Major Weather Systems in Nepal 26º 22' N - 30º 27' N Lat. 80º 4'E - 88º 12'E Long. 200 400 100 Kilometers India China Iran Pakistan Myanmar Thailand Afghanistan Laos Nepal Cambodia Bangladesh Oman Bhutan Sri Lanka Turkmenistan Malaysia 130 260 65 Major Weather Systems in Nepal Western disturbances Summer Monsoon Four Seasons Pre- Monsoon ( March-May) Monsoon ( June – September) Post Monsoon ( Oct.- Nov.) Winter ( Dec.- Feb.) Country receives more than 80% of annual rainfall during summer monsoon onset date- first week of June Retreat date- last weak of Sep. Avg. Monsoon day for Kathmandu is 102 day

Introduction to the NMHS: DHM, Nepal Brief introduction to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Nepal Government of Nepal started hydrological and meteorological activities in an organized way in 1962. Mandate : To monitor all the hydrological and meteorological activities in Nepal including the monitoring of river hydrology, climate, agro-meteorology, sediment, air quality, water quality, limnology, snow hydrology, glaciology, and wind and solar energy. General and aviation weather forecasts are the regular services provided by DHM. Infrastructures: DHM is equipped with several data collection facilities based on different technologies, such as, wireless communication, radiosonde, Satellite Distribution Information System (SADIS), Weather Fax, and satellite picture receiving system(FY2E and Himawari). Wireless system connects Kathmandu to 54 stations spread over Nepal for climatic and hydrological data whereas the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) links DHM to the global meteorological community.DHM building with calibration lab Is Under construction. Staff: DHM employs a staff of 237(both technical and administrative) personnel including field office,3 basin office,3 regional office and headquater .

Physical context of Nepal Areal coverage: 147,181 sq. km. encompassing roughly to 885 km from East to West and varies from 145-241 km North-South. The elevation fluctuates sharply in the South–North direction from 60 m to the top of the world 8848 m amsl. Eight out of ten highest mountains in Nepal including Mt. Everest (8848 m, bordering Nepal and China).

Physical context of Nepal Lakes: National Lakes Conservation Development Committee has identified total 5,358 lakes in Nepal (including 2323 glacial lakes) Rara lake (the biggest lake, 10.8 sq. km) She-Phoksundo lake (145 m deep) Tilicho lake (the highest lake, 4919 m amsl) Phewa lake Rivers: more than 6000 rivers and tributaries. Karnali Koshi Gandaki

National requirements for observations National priority application areas Weather forecast: NWP and data assimilation. Hydrology: flood forecasting (flood and landslide) Agriculture : like irrigation, planting, using pesticides and insecticides, etc. Tourism: essential for tourism industry ( terkking, mountaineering ,etc.). Transport: useful for aviation, road transport, etc. Health: Different diseases spread and extinct on the basis of different weather phenomenon.(Rainfall, temperature, etc.) Hydropower Day to day activities: indoor and outdoor activities.

National requirements for observations Most relevant measurements: Temperature: dry, wet, minimum, maximum Humidity: Relative humidity Precipitation: rain, snow,hail Wind: wind speed and direction. Pressure: station and QNH (mainly for aviation purpose). Radiation: total duration,incoming as well as outgoing. Evaporation: specially for agricultural purpose. Soil Temperature: specially for agricultural purpose. Cloud visibility River Discharge: monitoring water level in the river.

Summary of national observing capabilities

Summary of national observing capabilities One Upper-air/radiosonde station at Kathmandu starting from june 2018(plan to install two more radiosonde stations). One Radar station at Surkhet( construction work going on) (plan to install two more radar stations). Nine Lightning detection networks 175 hydrological stations existing.

Status of National implementation of WIGOS DHM contributes to the global exchange of surface meteorological data every three hourly on a regular basis. Most of the stations are manual. Recently Installation of Upper-Air Radiosonde  and installation work for Weather Radar has been completed under PPCR project funded by world Bank. Upgrading of Surface Meteorological Network, Hydrological Network and Special Equipment for Hydrological Stations, ICT Infrastructure and Data Management going on under the same PPCR project . Upgrading of hydro-meteorological stations networks (88 meteorological stations and 70 hydrological stations) from manual to automatic . Development of comprehensive data quality check mechanism to hydro-meteorological data. National WIGOS governance mechanism: we have climate network division under DHM to monitor the data and network throughout the country.

Status of National implementation of WIGOS MoU between different non-NMHSs (Civil aviation authority of Nepal , weather news,SEN) for data sharing. Co-ordination between different ministries for exchanging data and forecast. Observation from 15 synoptic stations are exchanged globally and are also found in WMO OSCAR/Surface. Number of reporting stations updated by Member in OSCAR/Surface:15 Number of reporting stations in OSCAR/Surface with all mandatory metadata. 0 Number of staff trained in OSCAR/Surface: No WIGOS Station Identifiers: implemented for 15 stations as per WMO rule WIGOS Data Quality Monitoring System (WDQMS): we have internal database with automatic quality control system and even manual quality control system. Almost 400 surface observations stations are updated with metadata in DHM database. Surya Prajapati was the focal person for OSCAR/Surface as listed in WMO Oscar site but no focal points nominated till date after his retirement. No focal point from Nepal for WIGOS.

Remarks: Financial and technical support ( from WMO ) could help for the implementation of WIGOS and WMO OSCAR in Nepal. Expect to learn more about WIGOS and OSCAR to apply .

Many thanks to WMO and CMA Thank you! Many thanks to WMO and CMA kandelpeace@yahoo.com, kandelpeace@gmail.com

Many thanks to WMO and CMA Thank you! Many thanks to WMO and CMA kandelpeace@yahoo.com, kandelpeace@gmail.com

Status of National implementation of WIGOS (1 or 2 slides maximum) National Observing Strategy adopted/approved; National WIGOS Implementation Plan adopted/approved ; National WIGOS governance mechanism: in place; National WIGOS partnership agreements for integration and open- sharing of observations from NMHSs and non-NMHSs sources: in place ; OSCAR/Surface being populated and updated with WIGOS metadata for which observations are exchanged internationally Number of reporting stations updated by Member in OSCAR/Surface. Number of reporting stations in OSCAR/Surface with all mandatory metadata. Number of staff trained in OSCAR/Surface. WIGOS Station Identifiers: implemented WIGOS Data Quality Monitoring System (WDQMS): national process in place, for acting on quality problem information received from WDQMS; National focal points nominated (WIGOS NFP and OSCAR/Surface NFP)