Site Survey Report

Luanda Angola

18^th^ July 2005.

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INAMET Building Luanda-Angola.

Dira Fred Molotsi

Assisted by Emmanuel Magagwa.

**Introduction.**

A site survey of the proposed location for the GCOS Upper Air Network
(GUAN) station at Luanda, Angola was conducted during the period of
18^th^ -21^st\ .^ July 2005.The location is at the Luanda International
Airport on the section used for military aircrafts.

There are two existing buildings probably build in the early sixties.
The buildings are located faraway from the terminal building where the
central forecasting office is located. It is a secure area of course as
it is located in the military premises. In this regard security and
escort are always required. The building comprises of three offices. It
was used to house the old Vaisala Digicora system and the
radio-theodolite which has been removed. The building has a flat and
strong roof top suitable for the installation of the antenna for the
upper air system. A fixed ladder which gives access to the roof top from
within can be seen clearly through the passage. (Figure 5). The roof top
can also be accessed from outside through a stair case (figure 2). I
have also recommended that the Radome which still anchored on the roof
top should be removed as it would inhibit the sighting of the target
during launching. It has also been recommended that suitable power
points be installed in the three offices. Angola uses two pin power
sockets commonly found in Europe. The power is 220 volts 50 Hz\...

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Figure 1. Upper air equipment room.

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Figure 2 upper air building side view

The building as shown in the above figures needs some refurbishment
before the installation of equipment. The building is 13.2m long and
5.2m wide. The PR and Director of INAMET-- Mr. Gualberto Joao is eager
to have Luanda upper air station re-established hence he would urge the
Angola Government to provide the necessary funds for the refurbishment
of the buildings within the next few months. The old DigiCora M11 and
the old Radio-Theodolite power supply are still lying inside the
building as shown in figures 3 and 4 and will be removed during the
refurbishment of the building.

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Figure 3 inside the equipment house

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Figure 4 inside the operations room

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Figure 5 still inside the upper air equipment room

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Figure 6 upper building showing the roof top.

The generator and balloon filling shed is about 80m away from the upper
air sounding equipment building, it is 7m long and 5m wide. Electricity
is available as well as water. The old Stuart hydrogen generator still
lies inside the building and will have to be removed. As it could be
seen from the attached figures the building needs a complete
rehabilitation. The doors may have to be replaced as almost all glasses
on these doors are broken. It may be better if the roller doors may be
considered. The existing hydrogen tank may be used as it appears to be
still in good condition.

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Figure 7 Hydrogen generator and balloon filling front view.

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Figure 8 Hydrogen generator and balloon filling shed side view.

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Figure 9 Hydrogen generator equipment and balloon filing shed rear view

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Figure 7 Old Stuart generator inside the building

The upper air station is located far away from the operations room which
is located in the terminal building. It is not clear how the facilities
will be connected to communications centre in the forecasting office. It
is however expected that a telephone link may be used to connect the
upper air building to the operations room.

**Visit to Lubango 19^th^ July** **2005.**

The air fares to and from Lubangu were paid for by INAMET. This shows
that the Director is very keen to have the project implemented as soon
as possible.

Lubango is one of the stations listed under the GSN stations. The
station has an old upper air station which has not been in operation for
a long time just like the one in Luanda. The Angolan authorities are
also eager to reestablish this station. Lubangu is about eight hundred
(800) kilometers south of Luanda in the Kunene Province.

The Met office has an office in the terminal building of the Lubangu
airport. The office is currently being refurbished. A few instruments
were found inside this operations office. The instruments are yet to be
put into operation with the exception of the wind display unit the
Vaisala WAD 21 which was connected but not operational due to problems
of power.

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Met Instruments at Lubango airport observatory

The met square shown on the figure below will be used for the
installation of the newly acquired Vaisala Milos 500 Automatic Weather
station. The site is along the runway to provide a good profile of the
prevailing weather conditions along the run way.

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New Met square at Lubango airport.

We then visited the upper air station which is about five kilometers
form the airport. The upper air station building in Lubangu consists of
two buildings the upper air equipment building and the hydrogen
generator and balloon filling shed. The structures as shown in the
attached figures are similar to those of the upper air station in
Luanda. The equipment building still houses the old radio-theodolite
WBRT-R antenna installed on top of the roof and still covered by the
antenna cover. Power and water are available however the two buildings
just like those in Luanda need complete refurbishment. (Please note that
photos for Lubango are sent separately as they could not fit in the
file.)

As you are aware our mission to Angola was to conduct a site survey at
the Luanda upper air station and assess the facilities and make
appropriate recommendation to enable you to seek the necessary funding
for the possibility of reestablishing the upper air station in Luanda.
Our assignment was also to carry out inspections at some GSN stations
and determine what assistance may be required to bring the stations to
normal operation.

The reason why the Angolan authorities decided that we visit Lubangu is
that currently they do not have a single upper air station operational
hence they wanted us to visit this station so that we could also bring
it to your attention for consideration with Luanda so that the GCOS
donors may sympathetically reconsider their stand and assist in the
re-establishment of Lubangu upper air station.

**Meeting with the Assistant Minister of Post and Telecommunications
Hon. Anna Maria de Guimares 21^st^ July 2005 at 1530 hrs.**

The Director of INAMET arranged an appointment for us to see the Hon.
Minister so that we could brief her on the objective of our visit to
Luanda. Basically the Director wanted the Minister to understand exactly
what the Government of Angola will be expected to do with respect to the
proposed assistance.

I explained to the Minister that under the Global Climate Observing
System some of the Global Upper Air stations and some of the GSN
Stations have been found to have ceased their operations. It has
therefore been deemed necessary to assist those countries whose stations
have ceased operations and in Angola one of the upper air stations
identified is Luanda. I then explained to the Minister that my mission
to Luanda was to asses the existing facilities and provide a report to
the GCOS coordinator for consideration and appropriate action.

The Minister said the mission we undertook to Angola was very important
to them. They would welcome any assistance WMO could offer as the
Government is currently engaged in huge projects of rebuilding the
country after the of civil war. She said Angola is a very large country
with 18 provinces only 13 stations out of 22 weather stations are
operational. She said the Government of Angola would be grateful to WMO
for whatever support could be provided particularly with the
re-establishment of the upper air stations as currently there is no
upper air station which is operational. She promised that she would do
everything to ensure that the existing upper air facilities are
renovated to facilitate the reception of the equipment proposed upper
air equipment. The Minister also asked me to ask you if consideration
could not be made for the provision of additional upper air equipment
for the station in Lubangu. I told her that I will convey her request
but informed her that my mission was only confined to assess the
facilities in Luanda as an upper air station.

What I observed is that the Angolan authorities are eager to have the
upper air station in Luanda operational before the end of the year if
possible.

The Minister said they also have a comprehensive development plan which
they would or have submitted to WMO for consideration. One of the
problems she highlighted is lack of training of their staff she said
they are still lagging behind in this area. She said they have a desire
to monitor the weather but they are rather limited to meet their
objectives due to limited resources. The other problem they are phasing
is that of calibrating their instruments.

The Minister thanked WMO through GCOS for the efforts being made for
having considered Angola in this project and said that our report should
be considered so that Angola could benefit from the proposed assistance.