On September 27-30, 12 specialists of the “Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center” SNCO participated in a training course organized by the MicroStep-MIS organization. It was carried out within the framework of the UNDP “Supporting Nationally Determined Contributions Towards Climate Risk Resilience in Armenia”' project, funded by the Government of Japan. The training was facilitated by the Executive Director of MicroStep-MIS Alexey Krulov and Lead Meteorologist Vyacheslav Kolbin.

During the event employees received detailed information about the technical capabilities, system components and data management processes of the new automatic hydrometeorological stations installed with UNDP’s support. 

The training  contributed to the increase of work efficiency, as well as to the provision of more reliable hydrometeorological information to the beneficiaries and the population, noted Mr. Edgar Misakyan, Deputy Director of the “Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center” of Armenia. The training was also important in terms of clarifying technical issues related to the operation of the previously installed stations.

The process and principles of operation of sensors for air temperature and humidity, soil surface, subsoil temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and speed, precipitation, snow cover height, solar radiation and evaporation sensors, as well as installation heights and depths of the devices were discussed.

“These accurate forecasts will significantly help the different sectors of the economy and public administration, giving the opportunity to receive new data, improve the quality and quantity of the received data, better predict the probability of various dangerous phenomena and make the activities of the concerned ministries easier,” said Vyacheslav Kolbin, the Lead Meteorologist of MicroStep-MIS. “Particularly, in the field of agriculture, the damage caused by hail, heavy precipitation, drought will be reduced,” he added.

Throughout the training, the AWS programming and software were also discussed. The processes of data collection, storage and downloading were presented in detail. Maintenance and troubleshooting options for the devices were addressed. At the end of the course, the participants received certificates.