AU satellite partner enhances aviation safety through climate prediction
Windhoek, Namibia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) has appointed a Swiss-based satellite firm, Tecnavia, as its technical partner to make satellite data available to the 54 national weather prediction centres in Africa in an effort to radically improve Africa’s aviation safety, threatened by thunderstorms.
The National Meteorological Stations in the continent will receive the latest weather forecasts based on the satellite images from the clouds, but these stations would be required to equip their centres with advanced equipment and would require trained personnel to interpret the weather forecasts.
Giancarlo Vanoni, Technical Director at Tecnavia, the satellite services firm, said the company provides better climate monitoring data using the satellite images from the clouds, which would enable the MET stations across the continent to improve their prediction services, especially the thunderstorms.
“Our climate data is used on a daily basis. No aircraft takes off without proper weather information. Thunderstorms constitute the biggest risk to aviation safety. We shall be providing the short-term weather forecasts based on the satellite readouts every 30 seconds to the African Meteorological Services. This will ensure no flight takes off without accurate weather forecasts. This will help the aviation sector to avoid lightning strikes and thunderstorms,” Vanoni said.
Tecnavia plans to distribute its climate prediction services through bandwidth. The information will also be shared by other satellite stations in Europe.
Efforts to ensure an all-round data availability in Africa has continued to gain ground. The Niamey-based African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), created by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), was designated by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) as one of its Regional Climate Centres, to provide technical assistance to other weather stations in Africa.
“The systems we are using are much more complex. It is a web-based system which is able to deliver all the weather data to the meteorological centres. The MET centres must install the latest technologies in order to obtain the data and they will require the human resources to be able to effectively read the data," Vanoni told PANA in an interview in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
However, the AU, which is keen on the effective implementation of its Agenda 2063 objectives pertaining to climate services and policy decisions and practices, seeks to effectively anchor the proper utilization of satellite data and new technologies to strengthen the climate services value chain.
Thunderstorms are a regular climate phenomenon in Africa. The thunderstorms lead to increased number of flight diversions, delays and flight cancellations, leading to losses estimated in billions of dollars.
In one study in Nigeria, a researcher concluded 32% of the flight cancellations at Port Harcourt, were a result of thunderstorms, with about 218 such events in Nigeria between 2008 to 2013, according to data from the Nigerian aviation authorities. The International Air Transport Association (AITA) stated 71% of the air accidents in Nigeria were due to poor weather.
Aviation insurers, Munich Re-Insurance, estimate severe thunderstorms, flooding and forest fires, effects of climate change, were responsible for US$500 million in Africa’s aviation sector losses in 2024, severely affecting the aviation insurers.
Some 848 people died from these disasters according to the insurer in 2024. More severe aviation losses were recorded in South Africa and Nigeria. In Kenya, some 351 people were killed from flash floods and landslides as a result of thunderstorms in 2024. The losses attributed to these events amounted to US$241 million for Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.
Timothy Kipkoech Tanui, researching on the effect of thunderstorms on aircraft-related operations at the University of Nairobi, stated that airports required regular assessments for thunderstorm-related risks on a more regular basis. This is to avoid incidences such as flight delays, diversions, flight holding, runway overshoots and flight cancellations and cross-wind events during aircraft landing.
In an effort to improve aviation safety and prevent the impact of climate change on key economic sectors in Africa, the African Union Commission has been working with other partners, notably ACMAD, whose strategy is to help advance climate services at the regional and national level.
ACMAD works in partnership with a European Union (EU) funded project, the Intra-African Caribbean Pacific and Related Applications Programme (CLIMSA) whose mandate is to strengthen climate services information. The services assists various sectors to obtain the climate information, store and apply the knowledge obtained to the benefit of Africa’s most productive sectors.
The ClimSA project has been implemented since 2019, working through regional partners in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, each region, funded to US$8 million, to focus on improved climate resilience. The project has created 34 centres of excellence, to improve climate data sharing in order to improve climate observation and to advance the analysis of climate information.
Vanoni said climate data services are required and should be obtained by the WMO and the MET offices, which process the data and share with the relevant sectors, which require the information.
The African Meteorological Centres are expected to install the new information system, code-named PUMA 2025, a system adopted from an old system that has been in use over time, in order to obtain climate data running into 15 years, in order to effectively advance the weather forecasting, Vanoni said.
-0- PANA AO/MA 3July2025
