300 automated weather stations planned for country

KARACHI:

Three hundred automated weather stations (AWS) will be installed across the country, including Karachi, for better weather prediction for at least 10 days, said Pakistan Meteorological Department Karachi Chief Meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz.

The World Bank-funded project will be completes in almost three years, he said.

The AWS will record temperature, speed and direction of wind, humidity ratio, height of clouds, visibility and other meteorological conditions, Sarfraz told The Express Tribune.

Already five AWS are working in Karachi, including one at the Jinnah International Terminal. The World Bank will provide a soft loan PMD through the government of Pakistan for the Hydro Met and Climate Services Project to install 300 AWS across the country.

According to Sarfaraz, 55 AWS will be installed in Sindh, including Karachi. Currently there are only 17 AWS in Sindh, while many districts have no instrument for weather forecast.

Sarfraz said this project will improve weather forecast and give more accurate prognosis. Under the scheme, every tehsil will have an AWS. Solar-powered weather stations will work in far-flung areas transmitting data online without human interaction, he said.

Under the project, lands of the agriculture department Sindh and irrigation will be obtained. In other provinces, AWS will be installed on the government land.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2022.