Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa
In our latest video interview, climate scientist Tufa Dinku talks about his work on combining weather station data with satellite information to generate high-resolution data sets. These data could be used for making more accurate forecasts and can feed into other climate risk management activities, such as early-warning systems. With funding from Google.org, Dinku and his colleagues at the University of Reading have been working with Ethiopia’s National Meteorology Agency since 2008 to produce these hybrid data sets, which now extend the country’s climate record back 30 years. Dinku says:
Lack of data is not a specific problem for the Horn of Africa. It is a problem for most parts of Africa. But it’s more serious for this region. Two reasons: one, that there have not been observations over Somalia for many years now; two, even over Ethiopia and Kenya where there are observations, these areas are populated by nomads.