The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is set to transform urban climate monitoring nationwide with the deployment of cutting-edge, IoT-powered, LoRaWAN-enabled weather stations.
This groundbreaking initiative made possible through a partnership between Barani Design Technologies and the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) will significantly enhance the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of weather data collection in Nigeria’s urban environments.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, represented by Engr. Hamid Abdulkareem, Director of Engineering and Technical Services, lauded the collaboration as “a strategic and innovative addition to the weather forecasting value chain”.
“This initiative marks a major step forward in our commitment to delivering precise and timely weather information. These advanced weather stations will play a vital role in achieving our operational and strategic targets”, Abdulkareem said.
He noted that the donation complements the existing 25 Barani Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) already operational within the NiMet network. In addition, 59 compact automatic weather stations, including Barani systems, are being reactivated to expand the agency’s observation coverage and strengthen forecasting capabilities across the country.
The NiMet Director General/CEO further urged Barani Design Technologies and WASCAL to continue engaging NiMet’s technical team in capacity-building programmes to ensure the sustainability of the new systems and the seamless transmission of data to the agency’s central processing hub.
In his response, CEO of Barani Design Technologies, Mr. Jan Barani, expressed appreciation for NiMet’s collaboration and reaffirmed his company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s meteorological advancement.
“This new generation of smart, energy-efficient weather stations has been designed to enhance data accuracy and reliability in urban areas. Our goal is to make weather monitoring systems more compatible with smart city environments, overcoming the limitations of traditional weather stations”, Barani stated.
He explained that the new design leverages Internet of Things (IoT) wireless technologies to minimise power consumption while maintaining optimal performance.
Also speaking Coordinator, Data Management Department at WASCAL, Mr. Diallo Abdulaziz emphasised that the partnership seeks to improve Nigeria’s meteorological network by strengthening power and connectivity solutions across NiMet’s nationwide weather station infrastructure.
The newly deployed IoT weather stations adhere to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) standards, ensuring that the data collected is accurate, consistent, and globally comparable, thereby enhancing forecasting accuracy and supporting better climate decision-making.