Scientists from UKCEH are working on a new project, EW4Energy, on developing capacity for storm and lightning early warning systems for the energy sector in Ghana.
Led by the University of Leeds, UKCEH are collaborators along with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). EW4Energy will expand Ghana’s ground-based lightning detection system, ensuring development and local ownership of technical knowledge while improving storm prediction and early warning capabilities, particularly for the energy sector.
The project is part of a £10.7 million Africa-UK Physics Partnership (AUPP) programme, led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in collaboration with the Institute of Physics (IoP).
Lightning and intense rainfall with associated flooding form very powerful thunderstorms ultimately pose a risk to people and to Ghana's energy network. The project involves working with GMet and the energy sector to understand what type of information users might need to feed into early warning systems and network preparedness.
By combining the new sensor network with satellite data, the project will enhance understanding of lightning-generating storms in West Africa. It will also build local expertise in atmospheric physics, support early-career researchers, especially women and strengthen UK-Ghana research partnerships.
UKCEH science lead for the project is Dr Cornelia Klein with postdoctoral research associate Dr Guillaume Chagnaud assisting and supporting researchers at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. UKCEH’s West Africa Office is leading the in-country activity on capacity development in high schools, universities, and early career researchers.
The project team itself builds on long-standing UKCEH partnerships with UCC, KNUST and GMet, established over many years through projects such as AMMA-2050 and GCRF African SWIFT.
Dr Klein said, “UKCEH will be involved in exploring the usefulness of novel Meteosat Third Generation satellite lightning retrievals - which we get in near real time every 15 minutes - for potential rapid storm forecasting. We will also identify typical atmospheric precursors for strong lightning episodes, such as for example strong sea breeze days.
“The goal is to improve our ability to forecast high-frequency lightning events, and we want to understand under what circumstances lightning - which often precedes rainfall - can be a predictor for very intense rainfall production by thunderstorms in the region.”
She adds, “Cross country funding is rare, and this makes this project particularly special. With over 50% of the funding going to our Ghanaian research partners, they have the opportunity to really shape and lead the project and it provides a great opportunity to build on our existing partnerships.”
UKCEH already hosts the Africa nowcasting portal, which is actively being used by several African meteorological services (Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique) as part of the NC-International programme and WISER-EWSA project. We will be hosting new co-developed lightning-related products from the project on our portal and testing products together with GMet.
The Africa-UK Physics Partnership (AUPP) Programme is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF). It aims to strengthen research capabilities across the region to address key challenges facing African economies, including climate change, sustainable energy, and capacity building.
