OUR PROJECTS
Find below a list of projects we are involved.
WMO Innovation Hub
TAHMO has received a WMO innovation hub grant to develop an Open-source non-contact river flow observation system using cameras, specifically designed for Africa. This project will be implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation of the Government of Tanzania (MoWI), the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), TU Delft, Waterschap Limburg and The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
High Impact Weather Lake System (HIGHWAY)
HIGHWAY is a 4,500,000.00 GBP project under the Weather and Climate and Information SErvices for Africa (WISER) programme, funded by the UK department for International Development (DFID) which looks to enhance the resilience of African people and economic development to weather and climate related shocks, with an inital focus on the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB).
Transforming Weather Water data into value-added Information services for sustainable Growth in Africa (TWIGA)
The objective of TWIGA is to provide currently unavailable geo-information on weather, water and climate for sub-Saharan Africa by enhancing satellite-based geo-data with innovative in situ sensors and developing related information services that answer needs of African stakeholders and the GEOSS community. The concept is a systematic feedback loop to reciprocally validate in situ measurements and satellite data in one integrated model. Over 500 in situ measurement stations using citizen science.
Building on and pushing further recent advances in sensor and communication technology to provide cheaper and more robust in situ measurements covering a wider area at a higher resolution in sub-Saharan Africa. Working with tech-hubs in Europe and Africa to feed the creation and growth of European and African start-ups that develop sensors and geo-services, delivering complete value chains from sensor to customer-ready information delivery. More info can be found on the website of TWIGA.
Schools and Satellites (SaS)
Schools and Satellites (SaS) is a project that aims to better quantify and understand precipitation patterns in Ghana (West Africa). Understanding precipitation patterns is critical for water management anywhere. In West Africa, rain gauges (ground-based measurements) are few and far between. Imagery from satellites (remote sensing measurements) can be used to estimate precipitation and present a potential solution; however, current precipitation estimates from satellites for the region are very inaccurate.
The goal of SaS is to use machine learning to improve these precipitation estimates from satellites; ground-based precipitation measurements from Smartphones4Water will be utilized in training and verification of the machine-learning algorithm developed. Their classic soda bottle rain gauges will be distributed to schools in Ghana, which will record local precipitation data using smartphones. You can learn more about this method of data collection here, and the accuracy of these gauges here.
For more information, please take a look at the pitch presentation that was made to win the grant. The project is granted funding by the Citizen Science and Earth Observation Lab, CSEOL.
The project will take part in the 5 northern regions of Ghana: Upper West, Upper East, North East, Northern and Savannah regions, involving farmers and teachers with their students from Junior High Schools.
The project has started in August 2019 and will continue until we have been able to capture a whole rainy season with many measurement points. This was intended to happen in 2020, but due to the #CoronaCrisis, we will probably continue until the end of 2021.
GIZ Madagascar
TAHMO is collaborating with the Direction Generale de la Meteorologie (DGM) in Madagascar with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Adaptation of Agricultural Value Chains to Climate Change (PrAda) project. This collaboration is to support DGM to integrate all the surface station data available to them in Madagascar and to put this on the WMO Global Telecommunication System (GTS) to enhance the development of climate services.
Ground Truth 2.0
Ground Truth 2.0 builds on the strong existing social structures of citizens. The citizen groups and associations that are involved in the demonstration cases are: local communities closely working with the civil society organisation and consortium partners WWF and TAHMO (Zambia), outdoor enthusiasts and CSO (Sweden), weather enthusiasts and citizen scientists (The Netherlands), farmers, public schools, and outdoor enthusiasts (Spain), associations and members of the public at large who have an interest in safeguarding the quality of their local environment and more, specifically, the Youth and schools (Belgium), conservation organisations and tour operators (Kenya), local and (inter)national NGO’s representing citizens, farmers, schools, health workers, Youths and members of the general public via TAHMO.
Moreover, the Ground Truth 2.0 consortium involves industrial player for mobile apps and system integration and five SMEs that contribute relevant expertise in earth observation technologies and market uptake, hydrologic modelling, data mining of human sensed data and back end services, social media analytics for implicit data sensing by mining social media in a wide range of languages and serious gaming for cooperative planning, web mapping and GIS services as well as limited liability and not-for-profit organisations (knowledge and technology providers) for data collection and visualisation, land-use modelling and remote sensing and mobile data collection, open source software, citizen feedback systems and web tools and low-cost weather stations (TAHMO).
For further information please visit the Ground Truth 2.0 website.
The West African Monsoon: false starts and actionable information (TWAMFSAI)
In West Africa the rainy season regularly has a false start; the rain often falls when the actual rainy season has not yet started. Sometimes the start of the actual rainy season will even kick off a couple of weeks after the first rainfalls. Many farmers plant seeds immediately after the first rainfall in order to maximize their profit in the rainy season. However, if the regular rains are delayed, they suffer a lot of damage and need to replant their seeds (sometimes they have to replant their seeds up to 3x). While this happens in various countries in West Africa, this project focuses specifically on Ghana. In West Africa, the real rainy season coincides with a northward jump of the Inter –Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). With simulations, fed by ground and satellite observations, it is possible to accurately determine whether the ITCZ has indeed shifted and thus whether the actual rainy season has started. Such information has a lot of value for farmers since this can reduce a significant amount of extra costs. TAHMO, a Dutch social enterprise, can by means of innovative TAHMO weather stations and satellite data, identify the ITCZ and therefore supply valuable information to farmers. While it is certain that such services are of high value it is less certain how these services can commercially be viable for TAHMO and partners. This study has the aim to identify the market opportunities and financial feasibility for this service in Ghana.
Information services for Rwandan Potato Farmers (ISRPF)
Rwanda is a country, in sub-Saharan Africa, with a surface area equal to about half of the Netherlands and a population of about 12 million people. With an ever increasing population growth, the demand for food is increasing while the amount of available land is becoming scarcer. Thus creating a need for the existing agricultural practices to become more efficient. The current state is that Rwandan farmers do not have access to information that will encourage them to make smarter decisions. This project focuses on delivering required information services to the farmers that in order to reduce one of the most important risks with regards to food security in Rwanda: late blight (disease for potatoes and tomatoes). TAHMO has received this feasibility study to discover if such services are commercially viable.
Global Resilience Partnership
The Global Resilience Partnership is exploring, prototyping and scaling innovative resilience solutions, experimenting on the edge of the possible, pioneering deals, convening and encouraging collaboration between new partners and traditional agencies – to provide mass to achieve impact at scale. The organisation plans to help millions of vulnerable people in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South East Asia better adapt to shocks and chronic stresses and thrive in a more resilient future.
Meteorological Early Warning System to Build Resilience to Climate-Induced Shocks
The Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO) will empower local communities and vulnerable agriculturists across Uganda with an innovative early warning weather system for severe weather across the drought prone Cattle Corridor, the accident prone areas of Lake Victoria, Kyoga, and Wamala, and Uganda’s flash flood prone highlands. Leveraging the prevalence of cell phones across the country, the team will partner with mobile operators and the Ugandan National Meteorological Authority to provide low cost, on-demand access to weather alerts to more than 16 million Ugandan cell phone users and free access to all 8 million Airtel subscribers.
Weather Underground (IBM) funds over 300 TAHMO stations in Africa
IBM, through Weather Underground, has supplied funding to add more than 300 TAHMO micro-weather stations across Kenya, Nigeria and various other African nations. The stations are placed in a strategic location to serve a historically under-served community with real-time, accurate weather data. Potential results of the installations include helping improve irrigation and agricultural resource management as well as providing unique climate insights for the aviation, power, insurance, and various service-related industries.
