Biodiversity & Ecology

Journal of the Division Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology of Plants , Institute for Plant Science and Microbiology, University of Hamburg.

Climate Research article Open Access

Cooperation of meteorological services within SASSCAL on improving the management of observed climate data

Rafael Posada, Jens Riede, Frank Kaspar*, Albert Mhanda, Mesho Radithupa, John Stegling, Domingos Nascimento, Lutumba Tima, Joseph Kanyanga, Edson Nkonde, Martin Swaswa, David Waitolo

Article first published online: 24 April 2018

DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00297

*Corresponding author contact: frank.kaspar@dwd.de

<< Volume 6

Biodiversity & Ecology (Biodivers. Ecol.)

Climate change and adaptive land management in southern Africa - assessments, changes, challenges, and solutions,
edited by Rasmus Revermann, Kristin M. Krewenka, Ute Schmiedel, Jane M. Olwoch, Jörg Helmschrot & Norbert Jürgens

Volume 6, pages 22-29, April 2018

PDF (2.5 MB)

English

Abstract: Consistent and reliable climate observations for Southern Africa are an important source of information for climate service-related activities. Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) supported the cooperation among the national meteorological services of Angola, Botswana, Germany, and Zambia to improve the management of observed climate data in the region. This cooperation allowed the stablisation of a climate data management system in which CLIMSOFT ? a freely available software suite for storing climate data ? is the main component. Additional open-source applications have been developed to provide an easy-to-use interface to visualize, download, digitize, and import climate data from and into CLIMSOFT. Besides that, substantial progress in the storage, quality control, and management of present and historical climate data recorded in paper media has been achieved. The measures taken were accompanied by continuous training and support to ensure the long-term maintenance of the new data management.

Portuguese

Resumo: Observações climáticas consistentes e fi áveis da África Austral são uma fonte importante de informação para actividades relacionadas com serviços climáticos. O SASSCAL (?Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management? ou Centro de Serviços Científi cos da África Austral para as Alterações Climáticas e a Gestão Adaptativa das Terras) apoiou a cooperação entre os serviços meteorológicos nacionais de Angola, Botswana, Alemanha e Zâmbia, de modo a melhorar a gestão dos dados climáticos observados na região. Esta cooperação permitiu o estabelecimento de um sistema de gestão de dados climáticos, em que o CLIMSOFT ? um software disponível gratuitamente para o armazenamento de dados climáticos ? age como o principal componente. Outros aplicativos de código aberto foram desenvolvidos, de modo a oferecer uma interface fácil de usar para visualizar, descarregar, digitalizar e importar dados climáticos, de e para o CLIMSOFT. Para além disso, foram realizados progressos substanciais no armazenamento, controlo de qualidade e gestão de dados climáticos actuais e históricos registados em papel. As medidas tomadas foram acompanhadas por formação e apoio contínuos, de modo a garantir a manutenção a longo prazo da nova gestão de dados.

Suggested citation:
Posada, R., Riede, J., Kaspar, F., Mhanda, A., Radithupa, M., Stegling, J., Nascimento, D., Tima, L., Kanyanga, J., Nkonde, E., Swaswa, M. & Waitolo, D. (2018) Cooperation of meteorological services within SASSCAL on improving the management of observed climate data In: Climate change and adaptive land management in southern Africa – assessments, changes, challenges, and solutions (ed. by Revermann, R., Krewenka, K.M., Schmiedel, U., Olwoch, J.M., Helmschrot, J. & Jürgens, N.), pp. 22-29, Biodiversity & Ecology, 6, Klaus Hess Publishers, Göttingen & Windhoek. doi:10.7809/b-e.00297