Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Gets Satellite Forecast Station

Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Gets Satellite Forecast Station
AllAfrica.com, Africa

January 7, 2004 
 

WEATHER forecasts at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, have 
received a boost with the installation of a satellite based forecaster's 
workstation.

The equipment worth over US$120,000 (about N16.56 million), according to 
Aviation Minister, Mallam Isa Yuguda was obtained from the French government 
through its meteorological services, Meteo-France.

  
The negotiation which was done by the Nigerian Meteorology Agency (NIMET), on 
behalf of the federal government in November last year, also included training 
of local staff that would handle the sensitive equipment.

The minister who briefed the press in Abuja last week about the activities of 
his ministry in the last five months of assumption of duty, specifically said 
the equipment would add "value to the services provided for take-off, landing 
and enroute forecasts.

He said the agency had earlier installed Automatic Weather Observing Stations 
(AWOS) to complement the existing manually operated observatories.

"The AWOS has capacity to measure up to 13 weather elements in digital 
formats," he stated.

To ensure a hitch free flight operations during this year's hajj, the minister 
disclosed that arrangements had been made to extend the installations to 
Sokoto, Yola and Maiduguri.

"The automatic weather observing stations increase the quality and quantity of 
data generated and also eliminate all human errors.

"The accuracy and timeliness of weather forecasts and warnings will also 
improve considerably as a result of the increased data quantity and quality," 
he said.

He commended the agency which plans to instal 50 satellite automatic weather 
stations by next year, for its improved services and products, as demonstrated 
during the recently held Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 
Abuja.

"Pilots who brought the delegates and heads of states at the recently concluded 
CHOGM were highly impressed by the high standard of meteorological briefing and 
products made available for their flights.



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