Rasheed Bisiriyu
7 January 2004
Lagos — 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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