Priority 3: Establishing New Connections with Researchers from Developing Nations

Building Capacity in Developing Countries

Background

Over the past decade RAL scientists have worked in Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa to evaluate the feasibility of enhancing precipitation through cloud seeding. What typically has begun with a country's desire to increase its water supply has led over time to related efforts to upgrade infrastructure (particularly weather radars), to conduct air quality studies to better understand the relationship between inadvertent weather modification (e.g., industrial pollution) and precipitation, and to better manage existing water resources. Education and training of local officials and scientists has been an important element of each of these programs. Additional opportunities for outreach to researchers in other nations have been made possible over the last year with support from RAL's NSF-funded visitor program and NCAR's Diversity Initiative.

Progress

RAL scientists conducted feasibility studies for rainfall enhancement programs in Indonesia and Mali and a radar upgrade program in Burkina Faso in FY06. Training programs were initiated to help local scientists, technical staff and government officials learn to use new technologies and calibrate and maintain radars and other instruments. High-level governmental delegations from Indonesia, Thailand, and Kenya visited NCAR/RAL and signed MOUs expressing their intent to collaborate on a variety of water resource enhancement and management activities. RAL hosted a university scientist from Egypt this past summer and assisted him in learning to use the WRF model. During this visit, plans were made to launch a collaborative research project with two universities in Cairo, and a proposal was written to the U.S. State Department to develop a mesoscale modeling capability in Egypt. Benjamin Lamptey, a post-doc from Ghana, and others at RAL are planning to develop a prototype operational mesoscale modeling system for West Africa. If this plan goes forward, it will involve the training of African forecasters in the use of mesoscale-model products, and the coupling of MM5/WRF with agricultural and hydrological models.

Plans

Scientific and technical staff from Mali and Burkina Faso will visit NCAR in October for training on general principles of precipitation processes (RAL), the calibration and maintenance of weather radars (EOL/RAL), and processing and quality control of data (Unidata). If the proposal to the State Department is funded, three Egyptian scientists will make an extended visit to NCAR in 2007. RAL scientists will continue to participate in UCAR's Africa Initiative and explore new opportunities for funding a proposal to provide and sustain a radar network in West Africa.

For Further Information

RAL Annual Report