NiMet Unveils Smart Weather Stations to Boost Urban Climate Monitoring

NiMet Unveils Smart Weather Stations to Boost Urban Climate Monitoring

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has announced the deployment of innovative IoT-powered, LoRaWAN-enabled weather stations to enhance urban climate monitoring across Nigeria.

The initiative, a collaboration between Barani Design Technologies and the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of weather data collection in cities.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, NiMet’s Director-General/CEO, represented by Engr. Hamid Abdulkareem, Director of Engineering and Technical Services, described the development as “a strategic and innovative milestone in the nation’s weather forecasting value chain.”

“This initiative marks a significant step forward in our commitment to providing accurate and timely weather information. These advanced weather stations will be instrumental in helping us achieve our targets,” he said.

He added that the donation complements the existing 25 Barani Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) currently in NiMet’s network.

“A total of 59 compact automatic weather stations, including Barani products, are being reactivated to boost our station density and improve observation and forecasting capability,” he said.

Abdulkareem also urged the partners to keep NiMet’s technical team informed about upcoming capacity-building opportunities to ensure sustainability and seamless data transmission to the agency’s data center.

In his remarks, Mr. Jan Barani, CEO of Barani Design Technologies, said the new smart, energy-efficient weather stations were designed to enhance data reliability, especially in urban settings.

“This new generation of weather stations is tailored for smart city environments. Traditional systems often face challenges with inconsistent measurements and relocation. Our design solves these issues while minimizing power use through IoT technologies,” Barani explained.

Also speaking, Mr. Diallo Abdulaziz, Coordinator of the Data Management Department at WASCAL, said the collaboration will strengthen NiMet’s meteorological network by improving power and connectivity solutions nationwide.

He emphasized that the new systems meet World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards, ensuring data accuracy and comparability for better forecasting and climate analysis.