By Mohamed Attia
As part of the current leap witnessed by the World Meteorological Organisation, whether at the level of basic infrastructure or the services it provides, Minister of Civil Aviation Mohammed Abbas Helmi met with President of the World Meteorological Organisation Abdullah Al Mandous and the accompanying delegation, in the presence of President of the General Authority for Meteorology Captain Hisham Tahoun.
During the meeting, Minister of Civil Aviation Helmi praised the fruitful and constructive co-operation between the Ministry of Civil Aviation represented by the General Authority for Meteorology and the World Meteorological Organisation in various activities.
He also commended the distinguished efforts of the Organisation in assisting countries around the world, maximizing resources, and in the field of environmental protection.
The minister reviewed the areas of mutual co-operation between the ministry and the World Meteorological Organisation in improving climate and addressing the phenomenon of global warming, especially in light of the effective efforts undertaken by the Egyptian state in climate change issues and its implementation of practical measures and comprehensive measures to reduce pollution and preserve the environment.
For his part, the President of the World Meteorological Organisation praised this distinguished meeting, which reflects the aspects of coordination and effective cooperation between the General Authority for Meteorology and the Organisation, within the framework of supporting the General Authority for Meteorology’s efforts to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects, and enhance the capacity of early warning systems to improve disaster risk management, in addition to providing high-quality weather forecasts, integrated and sustainable climate and hydrological services.
He added that Egypt is an active and responsible international member, supporting all initiatives and measures of the World Meteorological Organisation to address climate and environmental challenges. It is also one of the founding members of the Organisation and the Arab Permanent Committee for Meteorology at the Arab League.
The World Meteorological Organisation is currently witnessing a significant leap, with a direct link established between the Early Warning Centre of the General Authority for Meteorology and the Cabinet for the rapid transmission of warnings, alerts, weather reports, and direct monitoring, especially in cases of unstable weather.
Competent meteorologists at the General Authority for Meteorology have also been appointed as contact points for each governorate exposed to weather conditions for direct and accurate monitoring with officials around the clock.
The authority also ensured the creation of a dedicated mobile application for weather forecasts to reach a larger base of users and recipients of early warning services.
As for the projects implemented by the authority to improve work quality and develop infrastructure: the installation and operation of 3 weather radars in “Hurghada – Marsa Matrouh – El Qantara” has been completed. This project is one of the most important national projects aimed at improving the accuracy and speed of immediate predictions for rain, floods, and dust storms that the country particularly experiences during the autumn and winter periods (for rain and floods) and the spring period (for dust storms), which have intensified recently.
This project enables the authority to identify the locations and timings of rainfall and its quantities to assist in the rapid issuance of weather warnings and thus in the accuracy and speed of decisions related to this matter.
The authority has also completed the supply and installation of all components of the contract for the supply and installation of a high-speed computer project.
The importance of this project lies in increasing the computational capacity of the authority, which will lead to an increase in the accuracy and speed of the flow of incoming and outgoing weather data, its analysis, and the extraction of predictions for the service and safety of civil aviation and various sectors of the state, as well as for implementing the required studies in the field of climate change on Egypt.
A project to develop and automate the work systems and procedures of the General Authority for Meteorology, specifically regarding the monitoring system, data preparation system, and maintenance and calibration system, is also being implemented through a co-operation protocol signed with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Additionally, a project to develop a smartphone application for providing services of the General Authority for Meteorology to citizens is underway.
Five meteorological stations have been developed to increase and improve the amount of information and the accuracy of weather warnings. Additionally, a number of accommodations attached to meteorological stations have been developed to improve and enhance the work environment.
