UCAR has embarked on an effort whose goal is assisting in building atmospheric-sciences capacity in Africa. The UCAR Africa Initiative is motivated by Africa's under representation in international efforts to develop improved research capabilities, observing facilities, operational forecasting, and meteorological education. Three initial endeavors focused on West Africa and the Sahel, have begun: 1) the development of a modest radar network and data-distribution system for a few countries in the Sahel, 2) initiation of a partnership among UCAR, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, and the Ghana university community to develop an operational Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for West Africa, and 3) the organization of a workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on April 2-6, 2007, where the theme of the workshop was “Improving Lives by Understanding Weather”. This presentation will provide an overview of the various efforts being planned as part of the UCAR Africa Initiative, give a status update of efforts currently underway, and explore avenues for greater collaboration with the UCAR community on African issues and endeavors.

We recognized that there are a number of efforts being undertaken by universities and government agencies that include atmospheric-science capacity building in Africa. Given the substantial existing unmet needs and the size of the challenge, UCAR is augmenting these other activities in a variety of ways. We invite UCAR-Member and Affiliate universities, and other organizations, to share information relevant to their endeavors with the community at-large so that all can better achieve the common goal of improving the atmospheric-sciences infrastructure in Africa. ->