Luanda — The director-general of the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INAMET), João Afonso, informed on Friday (20), in Luanda, that the institution currently controls 90 stations, being 83 meteorological and 7 seismic, respectively.
The official was speaking to ANGOP, on the occasion of World Meteorological Day, to be celebrated on March 23, having mentioned that the province of Cunene has the largest number of stations, totaling 17.
He justified the quantity by the fact that the province benefits from European Union projects and other donations, in addition to government investments, within the framework of combating drought in the region.
João Afonso mentioned that 2nd comes Luanda, with 12, taking into account the previous political-administrative division, and Huíla with 8, while the provinces with a deficit are Cuando, with no station, Moxico Leste (1) and Cubango (2).
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According to the director, the number of stations that the country has corresponds to approximately 65% of the minimum amount recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
"At the moment, we are meeting approximately 60 to 65% of what is recommended. When I say recommended, I am not saying that 65 is good. This is the minimum recommended, taking into account the financial capabilities of each country, since the more stations, the better," he stressed.
He explained that to define the minimum recommended quantity, among other factors, the logic is considered that a station has a representativeness of a 30-kilometer radius, although the ideal is to have as many as possible.
In this sense, he mentioned that with the second phase of the INAMET Modernization Project, which will include the installation of more stations, it may allow the country to reach approximately 90% of the minimum quantity recommended by the WMO.
On the other hand, he revealed that there are about 50 stations in Angola belonging to other entities, both public and private, so the intention of the modernization project was to integrate them all into a single system controlled by INAMET.
According to João Afonso, this intention did not happen because all the stations available outside the INAMET management are incompatible with the new system and do not comply with the standards of the World Meteorological Organization.
"In addition to having the network of weather stations, the project implemented a calibration lab for the weather station sensors. The stations are not just equipment that will be installed and left aside. There are periods for sensor calibration, as well as for station maintenance," he added.
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World Meteorological Day was established by the WMO in 1950 to highlight the importance of continuous climate monitoring for the safety and future of the planet.
For this year, the institution chose the motto "Observing today, protecting tomorrow" to emphasize the importance of continuous climate monitoring for the safety and future of the planet.
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