Department of Meteorology and Hydrology

Details

Introduction

The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, formerly called Meteorology Department was launched in September 2001 with funds obtained from the World Meteorolocical Organization (WMO). At the beginning the department had aimed at bridging the national gaps interms of trained Weather and Climate forecaster and researchers. The department had carried out its activity for more than eight years led by the former Water technology Institute before it was shifted into the College of Natural Sciences in September 2009.

Following July 2009, the Meteorology Department revised its old curriculum and developed a modern one, taking into consideration the rapid change of global climate of 21st century, so that to properly fulfill the national demand. The new curriculum is composed of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (Water) and geosphere (Soil) disciplines, as these are the main interacting components of the climate system, and named “Meteorology and Hydrology”.

The department furthermore developed a new Masters program , called M.Sc. (Climate Change and Development) in December 2011, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) with funds obtained from Rockefeller foundation.

Currently, the department has in training: 7 students in M.Sc. (Climate Change and Development), and around 200 students in B.Sc. (Meteorology and Hydrology). There are also 7 foreign (Rwandan) students attending the B.Sc. (Meteorology and Hydrology) program.

The major aims of the department are:

  • To provide modern and quality education for users so that to produce trained researches that will serve at the national environmental, climate/weather, agriculture/ forestry, water and construction and military sectors.
  • To perform high quality research on  the Impacts of Climate Change on the sectros of water, agriculture, health , construction and generally on the socio-economy of the country.
  • To provide consultation for users and policy makers in the sectors of environment,agriculture/ forestry ,water, military and construction.
  • The department has also aimed at establishing a modern Climate Research and Modelling laboratory at Abaya campus so that to better understand the behaviour and causes of climate change in Ethiopia.

Contact Us

Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
P.O. Box 21
Arba Minch University

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