Abstract ID: 3.18998 | Accepted as Poster | Talk/Oral | TBA | TBA

Developing countries have faced many challenges when it comes to acquiring timely and accurate weather data. This is mainly due to sparse weather observation networks found in the continent. In response to this, the Appalachian State University (ASU) partnered with the University of the Free State (UFS) in the Mountain-to-Mountain project funded by the United State Embassy to create means to alleviate such issues. This project included installation of five Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) over the past three years at the UFS QwaQwa campus and the northern Maloti-Drakensberg mountains. These weather stations are the first of their unique characteristic in the geographic location with one of them being the only one in the alpine zone in Southern Africa. The main aim of this study is to introduce and detail the AWS and their advantages to the research world. The study will analyse the spatial distribution of these five AWS, outlining their geographic positioning and altitudinal range, source and evaluate possible partnerships and data dissemination methods with affected stakeholders and identify applications of the weather data from the stations. The study will do this based on the reports on available records of the climate indices such as precipitation trends, temperature variability and other extreme weather patterns observed in the mountains. The availability of the ASU-UFS AWS network offers great advantages that can assist in providing accurate local forecasting data and improve weather prediction accuracy. This calls for studies in mountainous regions to fully utilize the datasets offered from this network as this.