On March 13th to 15th, the SAFE4ALL Africa project kicked off with its first General Assembly at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. This initiative, funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, addresses critical food security issues, disaster management, and migration across Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. MicroStep-MIS, is proud to be among the 16 European and African partners participating in this project, reflecting a collaborative effort toward co-creating sustainable climate services.
Our tool aims to move beyond the state-of-the-art of the nowcasting of thunderstorms to increase its accuracy and availability. This advancement will assist farmers and all citizens in better adapting to climate change, as studies demonstrate that climate change will exacerbate the intensity of thunderstorms.
Standard state-of-the-art thunderstorm nowcasting is based on extrapolation of radar data. Our tool is based on satellite data and uses AI techniques. The advantages of satellite data (ESA, EUMETSAT) compared to radars are that they are available for all areas (including the case study countries) and the advantage of AI techniques is that they can better grasp complex non-linear features of natural processes. Better accuracy of thunderstorm nowcast is achieved by the use of the complex AI method and even current measurements from the stations (TAHMO, National Met. networks). The usage of large-scale data (satellite) and precise local point measurement provide both unparalleled preciseness (inherited from point stations) and spatial coverage.
In the SAFE4ALL project, the tool will be used to issue severe weather warnings for farmers, and for urban citizens. Additionally, a pipeline can be constructed to forward the precipitation nowcast to flood models provided by other partners such as TAHMO and KMD in this project, to generate flash flood warnings.
As the SAFE4ALL project progresses, we will provide updates on its development, highlighting our contributions. The recent General Assembly held in Wageningen underscored the commitment of all members of the Consortium to advancing climate services across African landscapes, and we are honored to be part of this mission.
