The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has announced that introduction of IoT-powered LoRaWAN-enabled weather stations would transform urban climate tracking in the nation.
According to the agency on Sunday, the systems were donated by Barani Design Technologies and the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL).
The advanced systems would improve data accuracy, reduce power consumption, and align with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards.
Director General of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike who was represented by Director of Engineering and Technical Services, Engr. Hamid Abdulkareem, described the new alliance as strategic and innovative in the weather forecasting value chain.
“This initiative marks a significant step forward in our commitment to providing accurate and timely weather information. These advanced weather stations will be instrumental in helping us achieve our targets”.
He described the donation as additional to the existing 25 Barani AWS that are currently operational in the NiMet network.
A total of 59 compact automatic weather stations (including Barani products) are being reactivated to boost the Agency’s weather station density and improve our observation and forecasting capability.
Anosike urged Barani and WASCAL to ensure that NiMet technical team are promptly informed of capacity-building opportunities in order to ensure sustainability of the automated weather stations and their seamless transmission to our data center.
Meanwhile, in his response, Mr Jan Barani, the CEO of the Barani Design Technologies in collaboration with WASCAL while thanking the NiMet boss for the reception, explained that this new generation of smart, energy-efficient weather stations has been developed to improve data accuracy and reliability across urban areas.
“The breakthrough comes as part of an initiative to make weather monitoring systems more compatible with modern smart city environments. This was necessary because traditional weather stations often struggle with inconsistent measurements and the challenges of relocation”, Barani enthused.
The new design is focused on reducing power consumption, made possible through the advancement of IoT (Internet of Things) wireless technologies.
Mr Diallo Abdulaziz, Coordinator Data Management Department, WASCAL said that as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s meteorological network, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) in partnership with Barani Design Technologies and WASCAL is enhancing power and connectivity solutions for its weather stations nationwide.
The new stations are built to meet the rigorous standards set by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This adherence to standards ensures that the data collected is both accurate and comparable, facilitating better weather forecasting and analysis.
