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By Lillian Ntshwarisang
Department of Meteorological Services
Phone: +267 3612200
Email: [email protected]/
Introduction
Mandate of DMS
Function of the Department
Services to specific sectors
Climate Services provide
Information dissemination
Stakeholder collaboration
Rainfall in the country is highly variable in space and time.
Drought is the most frequent extreme weather event. Drought
adversely affects the already fragile food and agricultural
situation and seriously impairs the rural economy and socio-
cultural structures. About 70% of the rural households derive
part of their livelihoods from agriculture and crop production
is mainly based on rain-fed farming. (DCMS, Botswana 2014)
The IPCC assessment report has indicated that parts
of sub-regions in Africa are among the most
vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate
variability and change coupled with extreme weather
events. Botswana also vulnerable
Climate information, products and services is
therefore vital for application in agriculture and food
security as well as other climate sensitive sectors.
The Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) is
to provide quality meteorological information and
advisory services for the protection of life and property
and for sustainable development.
Providing critical information services to users in sectors
including Agriculture, Aviation, Construction, Health,
Military, Academic Research Institutions, Insurance and
Recreation and the general public .
Playing a pivotal role in providing relevant information and
advisory services to alleviate the impact of natural and man-
induced disasters.
National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) is not yet
established in Botswana
Provides accurate and reliable weather forecasts for the public and issue special weather forecasts and warnings as and when necessary.
Exclusively responsible for providing meteorological services, including weather forecasts, to civil aviation industry and the military
Issues meteorological data and advice for use in water resource monitoring, planning and management.
Provides accurate and reliable weather forecasts for the public and issue special weather forecasts and warnings as and when necessary.
Supplies climate data for use in the infrastructure design,
construction, renewable energy and other sectors of the
economy, and in the identification and selection of
climate sensitive technologies.
Provides climate data for environmental protection and
assessment applications.
Issues meteorological data and advice for use in water
resource monitoring, planning and management.
Provides climate data for environmental protection and
assessment applications.
Provides observed and future climate change scenarios.
SERVICES TO SPECIFIC SECTORS
The agriculture industry in Botswana is rain-fed.
It relies on elements such as seasonal rainfall, mean
and extreme temperatures to determine drought
vulnerability, the length of the growing season to and
improve planning and decision-making in crops types
and yielding.
The information assists in maintaining a sustainable
level of food production.
The construction industry is reliant on understanding
the potential risk of inclement weather and climate
conditions, when planning project completion
timelines.
Weather and climate data creates value for energy
companies, as they make decisions to generate, buy or
sell energy across regional power grids BPC/Eskom
and other players in the Southern Africa Power Pooling
(SAP)
Environmental consultants, private companies, and
academic scientists often use weather and climate data
for variety of applications.
◦ Environmental Impact Plan
◦ Environmental Impact Assessment
◦ Energy resource mapping for Botswana
◦ Urban Development Plan
◦ For inclusion in the National Spatial Plan report
The short and long-term status of weather and climate
must be considered in designing, planning and
executing a variety of construction projects
Long term predictions allow agencies to better
anticipate fire fighting needs and improve fire
preparedness.
Insurance industry regularly use meteorological
information to measure the risk associated with natural
or man-made catastrophes.
Professionals in the legal industry make use of weather
and climate data, to assist with proving or disproving if
environmental conditions may have influenced any
circumstances surrounding a judicial case.
Many forms of transportation rely on weather for safe
and efficient travel.
The air transport sector is particularly vulnerable to
weather induced traffic delays and safety due to bad
weather
Many local and regional tourist destinations offer
certain activities based upon the local climate
Information given assists water resource managers to
respond to high temperatures, high evaporation rates
,drought and floods challenges.
Climate Services/Products
Provided
Daily Forecasts-Issued to the general public and agricultural communities. Contains forecast for the following data for all districts. The forecast include cloud cover, temperature and rainfall.
Five days Forecast- For agricultural communities and general public. Contains forecast for the next five days.
Information on the impact of the forecast provided and some advice on how to minimize the impact.
Contains observed climate statistics on monthly basis.
Weather Summary –Rainfall situation and Temperature
Weather and Climate Outlook
Drought Monitoring –Vegetation condition (VCI)
Drought Risk map
Advice-Extreme hot temperatures, the public is advised to avoid prolong stay under the sun
Impacts of the-e.g Poor vegetation condition, animal feeding is therefore necessary
Describes the expected rainfall outlook. Given to the farmers and general public during the rainfall season
Presented in three monthly overlapping periods; October to December (OND), November to January (NDJ), December to February (DJF), and January to March (JFM)
Contains information on the performance of the previous season, seasonal rainfall distribution
used for early warning, contingency planning, policy and decision in the climate sensitive sectors
for socio-economic benefit.
The information is provided on request. Major clients for the information include Farmers, Government Departments, Statistics Botswana, NGOS ,Research institutions, tertiary, environmental consultants).
The information requested include Climatological summaries, rainfall trend, climate statistics for specified areas and time. Rainfall and temperature maps; temperature and rainfall statistics mostly used by research Institution in undertaking research in climate change. Future rainfall and temperature projection.
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1970/71
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1976/77
1979/80
1982/83
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1988/89
1991/92
1994/95
1997/98
2000/01
2003/04
2006/07
2009/10
2012/13
An
om
alies
Gaborone Annual Rainfall (July-June)
Anomalies Linear (Anomalies)
Special Alert for informing stakeholders on potential risks ◦ Heat waves
Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) -An international standard format for emergency alerting and public warning-Implemented in October 2015 ◦ Public Weather Services (PWS)
Some stakeholders also trained on CAP at the department; officers from Department of Water Affairs (DWA), National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Botswana RedCross Society and Media (Sunday Standard).
Presentations at Kgotla
Presentations at District council meetings
Stakeholder workshops
Radio and Radio call in programme
Talk show (Television)
Press Release
Provided to Agriculture Ministry for Extension Services
Social media-Facebook
Botswana has a strong network of stakeholders and
organizations dealing with drought monitoring and mitigation
that include;
National Early Warning Technical Committee (EWTC),
Inter-Ministerial Drought Committee and Rural
Development Council. Institutions that monitor drought
comprise of Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Health;
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development;
Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism;
and Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources.
The EWTC makes planned trips round the country to assess
the impact of weather and climate on crops, rangeland,
animals, and water resources as well as the impact of pests and
diseases on the crop. This information is used to advice the
Inter-Ministerial Drought Committee (IMDC) on food
situation.
BDMS is a member of the IMDC, which discusses reports
from the EWTC
THANK YOU