Atmospheric alert system launched

A prototype atmospheric alert system for severe weather events for the Maltese Islands and the Central Mediterranean area has been set up by the Physical Oceanography Unit (PO-Unit) of the International Ocean Institute-Malta Operational Centre (IOI-MOC) at the University of Malta.

The system makes extensive use of satellite observations, the optimization of high resolution meteorological forecasting models, the combined use of wave models for forecasting hazardous sea conditions, and also the use of meteo-marine observations targeting to provide useful information in key areas to the end-users.

The web interface developed for the alerting system is mainly dedicated to furnish early warnings at sea and allows remote users to view predicted alerts of extreme weather and sea conditions within nine sub-areas within the Central Mediterranean

The service is part of a project called Weather Risk Reduction in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean (RISKMED) and is partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg III Community Initiative, which forms part of the Structural Funds Programme for Malta (2004-2006). The project is led by the Greek University of Ioannina, and brings together a consortium of eight partners from Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Malta with interests and expertise in the subject.

The work was coordinated by Dr Aldo Drago, Director of the research institute. Through a dedicated website, this system provides alerts to end users well in advance of any extreme weather event, giving responsible authorities the opportunity for timely response and mitigation.

www.capemalta.net