METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION IN ARMENIA

ARMENIA: COUNTRY OVERVIEW The country is located in the latitude of 38º 50′ - 41º 18′ N. and longitude of 43º 27′ - 46º 37′ E Territory: 29 800 km (10 % of Armenian Highlands) State borders: In the North with Georgia, In the East with Azerbaijan, In the West with Turkey, In the South with Iran METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

COUNTRY OVERVIEW 77 percent of territory located at 1 000 to 2 500 meters above sea level Average altitude of 1850 m. The highest altitude is 4 095 m (Mount Aragats) / 42 percent of the area is unusable for habitation The lowest point is the valley of North and South (380m) METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Dangerous hydrometeoorlogical phenomena and Land transport Armenia is highly vulnerable to a range of hydro-meteorological hazards. In recent decades, extreme weather events have become more frequent In addition to the safety of life and property issues, several economic sectors are highly weather-sensitive, especially agriculture, transportation, hydropower production and water resources management Heavy precipitations Floods Mudflows Avalanches, Strong winds Blizzards Fog Glazed Frosts METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Land Transport in Brief Being a landlocked country, Armenia has an economy that depends on transport and cross border access. Due to the geographic remoteness, the lack of direct access to the open sea and the high transport and transit costs Armenia face a significant economic disadvantage. These problems result in high transport costs Armenia’s location presents a significant problem for the transport sector. Only two international borders are open: those with Georgia to the north and Iran to the south. The eastern border with Azerbaijan was closed in 1991, and the western border with Turkey in 1993 The transportation network infrastructure has deteriorated due to lack of funds. Another problem is Armenia’s severe continental climate, with very low temperatures and heavy snowfall in winter that limit economic activity METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL SERVICE Armenian Hydrometeorological Service is the only organization in the country conducting observations, collecting, processing, storing data on the weather, climate, water resources and other hydro-meteorological elements, as well as preparing forecasts and warnings, contributing to the hydro-meteorological security and sustainable development of the country and the economy. METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL SERVICE One of the main functions of Armenian Hydrometeorological Service is to provide reliable and high accuracy meteorological, hydrological and climatic information to the public, governmental authorities, as well as sectors of economy with a high level of dependence on weather and climate conditions, with a special attention to dangerous and unfavorable phenomena. METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

OBSERVATIONS In Armenia the first meteorological observations started in 1843 in Gyumri and in 1844 in Yerevan. Eighty meteorological stations worked in the territory of the RA in different periods of time METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Meteorological Monitoring Currently meteorological observations conducted in - 47 stations 5 meteorological stations has more then 100 years of observation history 12 stations – 2000m above the sea level and higher Agroclimatological observations 40 stations Aerological observations 1 station Actinometric observations 6 stations Radiation observations 27 stations Ozonometric observations 1 station In Armenia the first meteorological observations started in 1843 in Gyumri and in 1844 in Yerevan METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Hydrological Monitoring Hydrological measurements are performed at 7 hydrological stations in the main river basins. Totally counting 94 gauging sites including 4 lake, 4 reservoir sites METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Main Users Government Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology Territorial Administration Bodies, including Yerevan Municipality, communities, city administrations and decision-makers at local level Mass media Private organizations general public, railroad companies, trucking companies, bus/troleybus companies, road authorities and local governments METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Present situation of Hydromet Service The special equipment and devices currently used in the state observations network are physically depreciated and outdated by 70%, there is no radar network, lack of automatic stations, no lightening detection system Insufficient scientific and research activities Lack of trained specialists Hydromet Service provides general forecasting. No any specialized forecasts for transport service More detailed hydrometeorological forecast need to be produced especially for specific phenomena such as avalanches, mudflows, glazed frosts, fogs, etc METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL SERVICE The active interactions with the user community and collection of their feedback enhances the value of the hydrometeorological information and service. Armenian Hydromet Service regularly improves its services to responds to the demands of users, with this purpose meetings with decision-makers, representatives of different ministries are organized in Armenia with the aim to establish a sustainable user interface platform understand users’ needs and requirements, raise their awareness and to provide better services METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

User Needs (feedback from users) More frequent data/information provision Provision of very short range weather forecasts (nowcasting) Developing specialized forecasts EWS establishment Hail /Fog/ Lightening identification Training seminars for users: awareness of users on the hydrometeorological products Close interaction, cooperation, joint discussion of information required to meet users needs “Department of Road Transport: The Department is responsible for national, regional and local roads and has close cooperation with Hydromet Service To provide services for roads, including road maintenance and traffic flow, it is critical to have timely and localized information for all road types. There are no sensors on roads “ METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Needs for improvement of Meteorological Service for Land Transport Studying the main sections of the routes, classification them in terms of severe weather conditions Re-equipment and extend existing observation network Installing AWSs on the road sections of the main routes Provision of radar systems to provide warning and nowcasting of severe weather events, Creation of capacities for rapid notification of the expected dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomenaProviding Satellite observations on the condition of the routes METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Needs for improvement of Meteorological Service for Land Transport Developing of techniques for short-and long-range weather and hydrological forecasts for the routes Strengthening of telecom system, information transmission in real time Setting up an operational early warning system Issuing information and prediction bulletins /atlas/ for land transport Regional cooperation Education, training for personnel Training for users METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Many hazards are common to a number of neighboring countries Regional Approach Region is influenced by weather patterns, they don’t stop at the borders Many hazards are common to a number of neighboring countries Sharing and exchange of information will allow for greater reduction of hazard risk at the national and regional level Individual countries may not be able to cope with a major disasters on their own To establish an effective system of cross-border exchange of warnings among NMHSs, the activities are to be properly coordinated in the regional scale METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

Opportunities World Bank's Armenia Disaster Risk Managment Program “Modernizating Weather, Water and Climate Services” road map for Armenia ) EU TRACECA METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019

THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION! Valentina Grigoryan Adviser to Director Armenian Hydromet Service, Ministry of Emergency Situations e-mail: valentina.grigoryan@yahoo.com METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, Geneva 18-19 March 2019