N. J. Muthama

The role of ICTs in downscaling and up-scaling integrated weather forecasts for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

Despite global advancements in technology and inter-trade volumes, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only Region where cases of hunger have increased since 1990. Rampant and frequent droughts are one of the major causes of this. Monumental and mostly donor-funded projects have been mounted to counter this but with little success. One of the latest strategies being experimented is a community-based early warning system that seeks to integrate indigenous knowledge with western climate science. This initiative is informed by the realization that, though crucial, weather forecast information provided by the national meteorological departments has little utilization amongst small-scale farmers. Though having generated promising results, the integration project still faces the challenges of scaling up across communities as well as the lack of micro-level weather data. In this paper, we describe how the adoption of mobile phones and wireless sensor networks technology is being used to address these two challenges. Use of denser wireless sensor networks to collect local weather data and mobile phones to disseminate forecasts brings information closer to the farmers that need it most. To ensure that the non-mystical aspects of indigenous knowledge are portable across communities, language technologies (part of artificial intelligence) are used in the design of our system.

Detailed analysis of solar ultraviolet radiation: a preliminary investigation on data collected at Rome (‘La Sapienza’ University)

Abstract The importance of solar ultraviolet radiation and its impact on human health is well known by the scientific community. Variations of the ozone layer can influence the UV radiation reaching the Earths surface, especially at short wavelengths. Thus, it is important to study any possible ozone fluctuations. At the Physics Department, University of Rome, a Brewer spectrophotometer MKIV is located and is used to measure total ozone and UV flux in the 290–325 nm region with a resolution of 0.5 nm. Measurements of damaging ultraviolet radiation (DUV), defined as the incident radiation weighted against an action spectrum which relates the sensitivity of the human body to UV radiation, are also processed. This work is a preliminary investigation on the spectral solar UV radiation measurements performed at Rome during the years 1992/1993.

An investigation of a possible dependence of Brewer number 67's total-ozone measurements on some atmospheric parameters, together with a presentation of a peculiar synoptic ozone case at Rome

SummaryBrewer total ozone data (January–December 1992) measured at the Physics Department, Rome University «La Sapienza» (41.9° North, 12.5° East) are analysed for dependence on Brewer internal temperature and some meteorological parameters. Non-parametric correlation analysis reveals the independence of total ozone from the internal Brewer temperature. Attention is focused on a peculiar case to show, by means of vertical wind velocity profile, the possible effects of lower stratospheric vertical advection on ozone fluctuations.

Total Ozone and UV-B Behavior in 1992–1993 at A Mid-Latitude Station

Daily total ozone data derived by means of a Brewer spectrophotometer at Rome (Italy) during the European Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Experiment (EASOE) were subjected to time series analyses to investigate any possible variations.