1. Use of Satellite Rainfall Estimates for Improving Climate Services in Africa
Tufa Dinku
International Research Institute for Climate and Society
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Collaborators:
The TAMSAT Group at University of Reading
National Meteorology Agency, Ethiopia
Tanzanian Meteorological Agency
The AGRHYMET Center, Niger
EUMETSAT
WMO

2. Outline Problems Proposed Solutions Implementation in Ethiopia
Significance and Next Steps

3. I. Problems Number of weather stations not adequate in most Africa
Most stations located in the cities along main roads
 Limited data over most of rural Africa
Serious gaps in observations (missing data)
Quality of available data not very good
Limited access and use of the available data

4. II. Proposed Solutions Improving data availability:
Quality control and combine local observations with global products such as satellite proxies and model reanalysis data
 Global products help in filling spatial and temporal gaps
Station measurements
Global Products
Combined product
Providing online access will not solve all the access problems, but it the first and very significant step
Data access done not necessarily mean data use. Thus, further steps need to be taken to ensure use of the data. These include….
The community of practice comprises of specific user group and climate scientists. This will help the climate scientists better understand the needs of the users, while the users will be exposed to what the climate community could offer for their specific sector. The CHWG in Ethiopia is a good example.

5. II. Proposed Solution Improving access and use:
Provide online-access to analysis tools and products
Develop products for specific applications
Train users to understand, demand, and use climate data
Facilitate the formation of community of practice

6. III. Implementation in Ethiopia

7. Implementation: Main Components
Training of NMA staff
Organizing and QC station data
Obtaining and processing raw METEOSAT data
Calibrating satellite rainfall algorithm
Generating climate time series
Redesigning NMA’s Web Page
Creating Climate Analysis and Applications Map Rooms

8. Improved Data Availability
Combined Gauge-Satellite, 1983-Current 10km)
The first figure is rainfall while the second is TMax.
Fig1. Gauge(TL), Gridded Gauge(TR), Satellite(BL), Satellite combined with gauge(BR)
Fig2: Station Tmax(TL), Gridded station(TR), Combined station-MODIS(BL), Elevation(BR) for reference

9. Improved Access and Use: Improved Web Page
The newly developed NMA web page, designed by IRI and developed by a local consultant, is designed for better presentation/access of existing and new NMA products. The “Maproom” tap at the top will lead to the page shown on the next page.

10. Improved Access and Use: New Maprooms
The New NMA Maprooms for better access and use of the newly developed climate time series. The “Climate Analysis” and “Climate Monitoring” have been developed. The three other Maprooms are still under construction. These will require more input data and consultation with users.

11. Improved Access and Use: Climate Monitoring Maproom
This is a tool to look at the historical record of rainfall and temperature
You can zoom into area of interest
Animate of the 12 months
Extract monthly climatology for a point, woreda, zone or regions

12. Improved Access and Use: Climate Monitoring Maproom
- This is to monitor the current climate on ten-daily basis

13. IV. Significance and Next Steps

14. Significant Accomplishments
Organization and processing of 30-years of raw METEOSAT data
2. Availability of 30-years of spatially and temporally complete data : “Gold mine” for research and applications
3. Online access to this kind of information is unprecedented in Africa
4. Transfer of IRI Data Library Technology to NMS in Africa

15. Next Steps Strengthen the Ethiopian case
Test the approach in some countries
Evaluate the approach
2. Scale-up to more countries

16. Next Steps: The process so far:
Tanzania: Completed

17. Next Steps: The process so far: CILSS/AGRHYMET: 90 % Completed

18. Next Steps: The process so far:
Coming soon: Burkina, Mali, Niger, Madagascar