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Disaster reduction in Morocco
Dr Abdullah Mokssit, National Centre for Climate and Meteorological Research, Morocco
T
he role of meteorology in social and economic develop-
ment is recognized and appreciated more and more in
today’s world. Over the last twenty years the Direction de
la Météorologie Nationale (DMN) – the Meteorolgical Office of
Morocco – has made important progress at all levels of appli-
cation including: model development, data assimilation, model
evaluation, weather forecasting, climate forecasting, and ocean
and marine forecasting. However, most recently its efforts have
been focused on two axes: weather risk management and end-
user products.
Weather risk management
Disaster reduction activities are at the core of a number of DMN
scientific and technical programmes. These programmes contribute
to global capabilities in the detection, forecasting and early warning
of hazards, as well as by providing effective means and procedures
to minimize the adverse consequences of such hazards through the
application of science and technology.
In coordination with the relevant authorities, DMN has developed
and implemented a weather risk strategy involving two stages: pre-
warning and warning. Whenever there is a chance that the weather
could affect one or multiple locations, a meteorologist person-
ally assesses the situation using pre-defined criteria to determine
the likelihood of a weather impact. Under these circumstances a
pre-warning is disseminated to the relevant authorities. When the
forecast team confirms the weather risk, dissemination of warnings
to the relevant authorities as well as to the public is
enacted.
The procedure of risk management is based on:
• Use of radar, satellite and lightning data for the
monitoring of severe weather events over the area
• Operational use of high resolution modelling for
the provision of weather forecasts and for all major
meteorological parameters including wind, rain,
snow and temperature
• Use of wave models to assess strong winds and
adverse marine conditions affecting coastal areas
• Presentation of the results and/or warnings in a user-
friendly way. This can be via fax, a dedicated web page,
e-mails, as well as through short message service and
multimedia messaging service to mobile phones.
End-user products
DMN has established a periodic evaluation and guid-
ance council in order to validate and listen to end-users.
This event helps DMN to understand the needs of the
end-users and provides a platform for the users to learn
how to use the information DMN provides. The council
is attended by users from all sectors including agricul-
ture, water, energy, air and marine navigation, and
scientific research.
In addition to this, as recommended by the council, an
annual sector council is organized. The main objective
of this council is to stimulate the use of sector-specific
information in an ongoing, iterative process of dialogue
between the producers of climatic information and the
multitude of users in Morocco.
Collaboration with end-users focuses on the follow-
ing objectives:
• Evaluate user needs
• Develop and demonstrate applications which
address practical user needs
• Establish interactive dialogue with primary users
• Develop data/information delivery systems.
The recommendations that result from the council are
translated to budgetary actions for developing applica-
tion tools based on monthly and seasonal products, as
well as hydrological and environment tools for deliver-
ing useful products and services.
Air quality
Human activities, rising industrial and energy produc-
tion, the burning of fossil fuels and the dramatic rise
in traffic on our roads all contribute to air pollution in
R
isk
G
overnance
and
M
anagement
Increasing global temperatures will have profound impact on North African societies
Image: DMN