The UNEP-CIS Pac5 Project, co-led by the Niue Meteorology Service and Project Management Coordination Unit (PMCU) provided Cabinet Ministers an insightful briefing last month on the island’s weather monitoring and wave forecasting capabilities.
This initiative establishes integrated climate and ocean information systems and multi-hazard early warning systems.
In a Government press statement, the site visit commenced with the Automated Weather Stations located in Liku and Vaipapahi, Hikutavake. During these visits, Met Office staff provided explanations about the functions and significance of weather monitoring devices, highlighting their crucial roles in safety preparedness, agriculture, aviation, transportation, energy resource management, environmental monitoring and public health.
Following the AWS site visits, attention shifted to Wave Buoy Locations at Namukulu FAD (Inshore), Alofi FAD (Inshore), and Halagigie FAD (Offshore) at Tamakautoga. The Niue Meteorological Services team showcased the monitoring dashboard, providing insights into real-time ocean surface temperatures, wave heights, swells, currents, wind speed, and directions.
These parameters are crucial for understanding and predicting oceanic conditions, thereby supporting maritime activities, coastal management, and disaster preparedness efforts.
The data accumulated by these stations over time will play a crucial role in enhancing the accuracy of weather forecasting.
In the statement, cabinet acknowledges the project site visits and the technical presentations by the MET Director Rossy Mitiepo and staff to enable better understanding of the department roles and projects implementation.
The project led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), aims to enhance climate information and knowledge services for resilience in five Pacific Island countries which includes Niue.