I study meteorology with an interest in aviation meteorology.
While studying weather analysis, I was always more interested in upper air
surface and aviation weather coding. I always wanted to know more about the
elements that matter so much to an airline or an aerodrome. My university
offers meteorology as a degree, there is no majoring unless at
masters level. Last semester we had an aviation meteorology unit which I loved so
much. It gave me a chance to connect more with weather and its significance
which unfortunately is not locally well absorbed in Kenya. Most people tend to view weathermen as
liars who always lie about when it will rain and not a drop is seen or when to expect a
dry spell which at times doesn't pass. Every time I meet new people, I get surprised should somebody
give a positive response about my major (the norm has been negative comments). I hope that my final year project work will
take me on a road of researching more on meteorology in the aviation sector.
To get a clearer understanding of how vital weather
information is, I opted to have my attachment at an airport. This would also give
me a chance to defend the weathermen better whenever anyone said something
negative. I wanted to learn, experience and create a good factual story to tell
out to the laymen, something that would captivate and make them appreciate
weather forecasting. Sometimes, we can use the power of a captivating story based on experience to change the perception that people have on a given subject. For the entire month of June 2013, I was based
at Wilson airport (HKNW) meteorological office. The staff at Wilson was very
welcoming and friendly, at one point I had to ask whether they underwent
training to be that generous, friendly and cheerful(because that sort of universal hospitality never comes easy) . If I was doing
ISO-Certification based on work ethics and etiquette, then Wilson has my
approval!
A typical day starts at 0500Z (this is 8am East African
time). All airports use the Greenwich Mean Time /Zulu /UTC. Every hour,
observations are done for elements including temperature, pressure, cloud
cover, visibility and wind. There are synoptic hours' observations usually done on a 3-hour
interval (0600, 0900, 1200…) which are either main or intermediate hours. Every
synoptic hour, we have to code more data which is then sent to the
national meteorological centre for analysis and use in prediction. I have
always known winds and temperature to be extremely important at an airport;
they determine the plane weight load at take off. Not to say that other elements like cloud
cover and visibility are not as important, in fact all weather is important
weather at an airport. However, I came to appreciate the power of pressure as
an element even more. A difference of 1mb pressure reading can make a damaging difference
for a plane taking off or landing.
Pressure reading is done from a barometer. This is an
instrument usually kept indoors. The reading once taken is corrected to station
level pressure from the cistern reading. Taking the pressure reading is one of
those things I had to become extra patient and careful while
reading. I felt like a champion on the day I finally felt confident doing it
right!
Though the work seemed routine, one beautiful thing about it
is the fact that weather changes, which means we always have to look out for
something different every hour. It felt fulfilling doing a job that is
appreciated by airlines and other consumers within and outside the airport.
