1. DEPARTMENT OF HYDROMETEOROLOGY;
BRIEF ON THE NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGICAL SERVICES ( NMHS) IN BURUNDI: Case of OBSERVATIONS AUTOMATION bY
Ruben Barakiza
METEOROLOGIST
DEPARTMENT OF HYDROMETEOROLOGY;
BURUNDI

2. PRESENTATION LAYOUT Introduction
Viision and Mission of the Department of Hydrometeorology
observational network
Data collection system
Data Processing and Analysis
Communication SYSTEM
Partnership
CHALLENGES
Projets/solutions
Conclusion

3. 1. Introduction
The national meteorological and hydrological services are carried out by by the Department of Hydrometeorology and Agrometeorology
The DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF THE 3 DEPARTMENTS OF THE GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE OF BURUNDI( IGEBU) WHICH IS A NATIONAL INSTITUTION UNDER THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT; AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK.
The 3 Departments OF THE GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE OF BURUNDI( IGEBU) ARE:
DEPARTMENT OF HYDROMETEOROLOGY AND AGROMETEOROLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF MAPPING AND LEVELLING
DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL MATTERS

4. ORGANIGRAMME .

5. The Department of Hydrometeorology and Agrometeorology has the following sections
Hydrology
hydrogeology
Meteorology and public weather services
Meteorological Services for international Air Navigation( Service AMNA)
Computer-based Data management ( Service CTI)

6. Vision
The vision of NMHS in Burundi is to promote meteorological and hydrological activities at national level for wellbeing of the population

7. Missions Of THE Department OF HYDROMETEORLOGY
Set up an efficient system for monitoring hydrological and meteorological phenomena
Management of a national network for observing and collecting hydrological and meteorological data
Carry out data Processing and analysis
Forecsting weather cli;ate conditions; including severe weather and climate extremes ( heavy rainfall; floods; drought; etc)
Communication of weather/climate information to the public and private sectors.
Expertise works( climate change; water resources management; etc.) at national and regional levels.

9. 2.1. National Network for meteorological Observations
2 Synoptic stations 24h/24( Bujumbura and Muyinga)
19 main climatological stations
125 rainfall sites
5 automatic weather stations ( AWS)
A good number of rainfall sites operated by PROSANUT; a project of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock.

10. 2.1.b. Network for Hydrological Observations
54 hydrological stations ; with at least one observer/ station
Equipments:
limnimetric scales
- water level recorder (recording Limnigraph)

11. Burundi meteorological net observation.

12. 2.2. Hydrological observations network
2 major River l basins
Nile River Basin
Congo River Basin
54 hydrological stations installed on the big rivers and lakes.
10 Automatic stations.

13. METEOROLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE and CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL NETWORK
Data Observational systems and network;
Data telecommunication systems and network;
Data procession, analysis and forecasting systems;
Product and information dissemination systems;
Human resource capital
CURRENTOBSERVATIONALNETWORK manuel observations
Synoptic Stations:
3 manned Surface Synoptic Stations,
17 Climatological stations
Automatic Weather Observing Systems:
10 Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs)
Rainfall Stations:
Over 37 rainfall stations vers

14. 2.1.c Combined hydrological and meteorological Station
This station at Lac Cohoha( North) monitors water level of the lake+ meteorological parameters( rainfall; relative humidity; wind; etc.)

15. 2.2 Main Activities of Meteorological Services of Burundi
Collect weather/climate data from meteorological station network on daily basis
Rainfall
temperature,
Wind
evaporation
Cloudiness etc
Daily weather forecasts for the public
SAEASONAL RAINFALL FORECASTS

16. 2.3. Data collection Meteorological data
Telephone ( Tansmission of observal data from stations to the Headquartes on daily basis at 08h00 et 15h00 local time)
Though Post Office ( Agrrement between IGEBU and et La Postal Office)
Regular Visites : for equipment Inspection and maintenance; and data collection.
Electonic transmission « Flyer-imvura » :project Prosanut operated by (Minagri) – IGEBU, les données sont directement reçues sur serveur à l’IGEBU

17. 2.3.DataCollection (cont’d)
Hydrological data:
water flow measurements for major rivers
Regular station Inspection and maintenance
Automatic data transmission : hydrological data are measured and automatically transmitted to the server at IGEBU Headquarters (HYCOS-IGEBUProject).

18. 2.4. Data processing Data entry at the data management section
Preliminary quality control of data
Collecting and collating data ( folders)
Advanced quality control at the data bank
Electronic Archiving at the server + Backup

19. 3. Communication Publication Internet (Email)
Web site: « 
Broadcating of Meteorological Bulletins through Burundi National Radio-Television ( RTNB)
Information Note on seasonal rainfall forecasts
workshops
Assistance to various users (university students, researchers , consultants)

20. 4. Partners International: National level:
world Meteorlogical Organization ( WMO)
IGAD Cli;ate Predictions and Application Centre(ICPAC-Nairobi)
African Centre for Meteorlogical Applications to Development( ACMAD)
EAC Meteorological Society
Germany Government Cooperation (BGR) for Water Ressources Management
Ect….
National level:
Burundi Civil Aviation Authority( AACB)
Red Cross (Protocole)
Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Management (PFN-GRCN)
Projet PROSANUT of the Ministry of Environment; Agriculture and Livestock- (protocole )
National Radiotelevision (RTNB (protocole : Présentation du bulletin météo)
Other public and private users; Etc……

21. Comparison between automatic and Conventional stations
Autonomous
Continuous and simultaneous Measurements
Simple for Maintenance
Simple for Operations
Permanent human presence
Continuous for some parameters.
Data observations at Fixed time intervals
Regular maintenance and care,
Huge amount of consumables

22. Comparison between automatic and Conventional stations(cont’d)
High level of reliability in terms of functioning and data recording
Automatic data processing
Parallax errors (up to %)
Absenteeism and data losses
Manually Data counting, which is tedious and slow with high probability of errors.

23. 5. Challenges and Solutions/projects
Projects/Solutions
Request for scholarships (from the Government and partners)
Training workshops
(locally and abroad)
Request for more equipments from the Government and our partners
Modernisation of observational network; including automatic stations.
Inadequate number of trained meteorologist and hydrologist Personnel
Unsufficient meteorological and hydrological Equipments
Budget

24. The END
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION