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G
overnance
and
P
olicy
would lead to better spatial coverage in many parts of
the country.
Moreover, the management of existing meteorological
data at ZMD needs to be streamlined, and some basic data
analysis techniques introduced. In particular, the introduc-
tion of spatial gridding techniques is needed for creating
maps that properly describe the state of the climate and its
variability over the entire country. Such maps are not only
an important basis for assessing present day climate vari-
ability and future climate change, but also for preparing for
climate variations – such as extended periods of drought
or rainfall – and for developing strategies to adapt to the
consequences of projected long-term climate change, as
stated in the NAPA report.
DMI will also assist in producing regional climate
simulations for Zambia by downscaling global climate
projections. Through this process, information on
the future climate can be obtained at a regional level,
which is necessary for developing measures to adapt
to the regional consequences of climate change. To
achieve this, DMI will perform simulations with the
HIRHAM Regional Climate Model for Zambia, both
for present day and future climate conditions. In
order to assess the quality of these climate simula-
tions and possibly to improve them, observational
data on both daily and monthly timescales monitored
and processed by ZMD are of crucial importance. It
is envisaged that ZMD will be supplied with the data
from these climate simulations as far as is possible,
so that it can give various stakeholders information
on potential future climate changes, or provide data
originating from these simulations to local research-
to provide timely short-, medium-, and long-range forecasts to
various stakeholders in the areas of aviation, agriculture and food
security, hydropower and energy security, as well as warning of
weather and climate-related disasters such as drought and flood-
ing. Through this process, ZMD will also be a more valuable
collaborator for international organizations operating in Zambia,
such as the United Nations Development Programme.
ZMD is well aware of the need to improve its capability in weather
and climate monitoring and in the dissemination of the resulting
information, and has identified three major components that need
to be addressed in the near future:
• Strengthen the capacity of existing meteorological stations by
increasing the number of weather parameters monitored and
increasing the equipment base
• Expand the station network to cover all 72 districts of Zambia
• Strengthen the interpretation and dissemination of weather
and climate information for national early warning in order to
enhance community and government awareness.
In addition, ZMD’s capacity in addressing the issue of climate change
needs to be upgraded, in particular the aspects of climate modelling
and downscaling global climate projections.
A variety of activities will be undertaken in the twinning project
between DMI and ZMD, to improve ZMD’s capacity in the areas
mentioned above. It should be emphasized that capacity building
is considered an essential part in all of them. Several are related
to properly monitoring and describing the weather and climate in
Zambia. To achieve this, the existing meteorological station network
must be improved and possibilities for expanding the existing mete-
orological station network need to be assessed. At present, the 38
principal meteorological stations are located in less than 25 Zambian
districts, from a total of 72. The expansion of the station network
Cup counter and wind vane at meteorological station, Zambia Meteorological Department, Lusaka, Zambia
Image: John Cappelen