By Bernard Gitau @benagitau
The Kenya Meteorological Department has launched a weather balloon to improve future weather forecasts.
After being on the receiving end from farmers and Kenyans of all walks of life over conflicting weather forecasts, especially the just concluded El Nino rains, the department is collaborating with learning institutions to improve on their weather-beaten equipment and embrace technology.
Such collaboration is with the Institute of Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA) of the University of Nairobi and the School of Geography at the University of Oxford to launch the first weather balloon to start the ‘Masika’ Radiosonde Investigation.
“The problem we have with our forecasts is that they are not accurate. The data is not a lot because we have very few functional stations,” Prof Gilbert Ouma from the Department of Earth and Climate Science at the University of Nairobi said.
To improve on the forecasts for the period, the Kenya Meteorological Department has launched the weather balloon which is part of an Intensive Observation Period that will last 45 days, starting 1st March 2024.
Prof Ouma indicates that the launch involves untethered balloons attached to radiosondes from two sites – in Nairobi and one other in the field.
“The balloons are weighing 100 grams and are attached to a radiosonde weighing 80 grams and are expected to rise to a height of 17 – 25 kilometers,” said Prof Ouma.
He added that the observational campaign aims to measure atmospheric processes during the long rains in new detail.
“The radiosondes will collect data on atmospheric winds, temperature, humidity, and pressure, whose analysis will help improve future weather forecasts,” he said.
Prof Ouma explained that speed tells how far the air will carry moisture away while humidity tells the amount of water that will go to clouds.
For the the direction of the wind, If we are having the wind direction from the Indian Ocean, it will be coming with a lot of moisture hence a lot of rainfall,” he said.
He added that if it had been in the last two months when the wind was coming through the Northern part of Kenya and the Chalbi desert, it would have been dry and hot hence a higher temperature with no rainfall.
At the moment, the meteorological department releases two balloons a day due to its cost with one estimated to be Sh 50,000.
However, the Masika Rift Jet study will use balloons costing Sh. 20000 a piece.
With this project running for 45 days, a total of 270 balloons will be released at an interval of 4 hours accounting for Sh 5.4 million
“The exercise is costly but with the data we are going to collect and analyze, it will inform us on whether we need to go on with it or increase the frequency of the release,” Prof Ouma.
Kenya Meteorological Department Deputy Director Mr Charles Mugah said the data will be co-owned by the Kenya Meteorological Department and the University of Nairobi.
Professor Daniel Olago REACH Country Program Director said the weather balloon launch is critical to study the Low Level Turkana Easterly Jet.
“The Low-Level Easterly Jet is a very strong jet that carries a lot of moisture from the Indian Ocean to Congo forest. In the process it transports 1/3 of the moisture from the East Africa region,” said Prof Olago.
The Turkana Jet was first identified by officers of the KMD working out of Marsabit in northwest Kenya.
These winds form in the Turkana Channel, between the Ethiopian Highlands to the northeast and Kenya Highlands to the southwest.
