slapis Archives - climateservices.it CNR-IBE https://climateservices.it/tag-progetti/slapis/ A CNR-IBE Initiative Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:10:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://climateservices.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-IBE_CS_FAVICON-32x32.png slapis Archives - climateservices.it CNR-IBE https://climateservices.it/tag-progetti/slapis/ 32 32 Slapis Sahel Numerical Weather Prediction https://climateservices.it/progetto/slapis-sahel-numerical-weather-prediction/ Wed, 18 Jun 2025 10:19:06 +0000 https://climateservices.it/?post_type=progetto&p=15216 SLAPIS SAHELProject Numerical Weather Predictionin SLAPIS Sahel One of the key objectives of the SLAPIS Sahel project is to strengthen national capacities in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) as a support for hydrological early warning, particularly for flash floods and flooding events along the Sirba River and the Niger River. The national meteorological agencies of Niger […]

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SLAPIS SAHEL
Project

Numerical Weather Prediction
in SLAPIS Sahel

One of the key objectives of the SLAPIS Sahel project is to strengthen national capacities in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) as a support for hydrological early warning, particularly for flash floods and flooding events along the Sirba River and the Niger River.

The national meteorological agencies of Niger (DMN) and Burkina Faso (ANAM) strategically decided to develop NWP chains based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. WRF is a widely used regional model for both operational weather forecasting and research, developed primarily by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the United States.

To this end, Niger and Burkina Faso receive support from IBE-CNR and, through it, from the LaMMA Consortium — joint initiative between CNR and the Tuscany Region, which provides regional meteorological services in Italy.

Capacity Building Timeline

In the framework of SLAPIS Sahel project, a series of capacity building actions were carried out  to build local expertise on WRF and numerical forecasting.

27 Feb – 3 Mar 2023

Niamey (Niger)

Capacity building for the staff of the Direction de la Météorologie Nationale in Numerical Weather Prediction.

Duration: 5 days — Participants: 15 (Niger)

27 Feb – 3 Mar 2023
13–16 Feb 2024

Niamey (Niger)

Action-based training: Performance and tuning of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.

Duration: 4 days — Participants: 24 (Niger and Burkina Faso).

13–16 Feb 2024
13 Nov 2024 – 12 Nov 2025

Florence (Italy)

Long-term training on Numerical Weather Prediction for early flood warning.

Duration: 12 months — Participants: 2 (Niger and Burkina Faso)

13 Nov 2024 – 12 Nov 2025
16 April 2025

Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

WRF product validation workshop.

Duration: 1 day — Participants: 12 (Burkina Faso)

16 April 2025
17 April 2025

Niamey (Niger)

WRF product validation workshop.

Duration: 1 day — Participants: 18 (Niger)

17 April 2025
23 April 2025

Niamey (Niger)

Rainfall estimation merging and operational integration of WRF Workshop. Duration: 1 day — Participants: 7 (Niger)
23 April 2025
19 May 2025

Webinar

Action-oriented seminar on the MOLOCH operational model.

Duration: 1 day — Participants: 14 (Niger and Burkina Faso)

19 May 2025
11 June 2025

Webinar

Presentation of the web interface for accessing operational MOLOCH and WRF forecasts.

Duration: 1 day — Participants: 7 (Niger and Burkina Faso)

11 June 2025
Slapis Sahel - training in Florence
Slapis Sahel - training in Florence
Slapis Sahel Project - Photo of the group

Operational Forecasting Chains

The establishment of operational NWP systems in Niger and Burkina Faso stands as a concrete result of SLAPIS Sahel. Tailored to national needs, the two chains strengthen local forecasting capabilities and support early warning efforts.

Image of Table comparing model, resolution and daily runs - Niger and Burkina Faso
Flag of Niger
With support from SLAPIS Sahel, DMN Niger implemented an operational WRF chain producing two daily runs (00 and 12 UTC)with a 4 km spatial resolution. Boundary conditions are derived from the GFS global model — of the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) at 0.25-degree resolution.
Flag of Burkina Faso

Since 2018, ANAM has been developing its WRF-based forecast chain through initiatives such as the HYDROMET Project (World Bank) and CREWS Project (WMO). Since June 2023, WRF (ARW) has been operational in Burkina Faso with two runs per day at 9 km and 3 km resolutions.

Model Evaluation & Verification

Methodology

Due to different configurations and the absence of systematic evaluation, a verification process was initiated in collaboration with LaMMA and supported through two research fellowships in Florence. 

Historical forecasts (hindcasts) were generated for July–August–September 2023 and 2024, comparing WRF-Niger, WRF-Burkina, and GFS.

Simulations were run on an 8-node Intel Xeon Gold 6130 cluster (256 cores total) with the latest WRF version. The simulation domain covered Niger, Burkina Faso, extended southward to the Gulf of Guinea and eastward to Chad. Initialization data were sourced from the GFS global model, and 36-hour simulations were launched from 18 UTC. The initial 6-hour spin-up period was excluded from the analysis. Comparisons were performed using both satellite estimates (00h–00h accumulation) and station data (06h–06h accumulation).

Results

Deterministic Metrics (ME, MAE, Correlation)

Deterministic metrics — including Mean Error (ME), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and correlation — indicate that WRF-Niger tended to perform better for low rainfall (≤5 mm/day), while WRF-Burkina showed higher scores for heavier precipitation.
Deterministic Scores - Project Slapis Sahel
Infograph WRF Model performance by rainfall intensity

Fraction Skill Score (FSS)

Fractional Skill Score (FSS): WRF-Burkina showed better skill in producing significant forecasts at smaller spatial scales for high rainfall accumulations. (Figure 2)
Fractional Skill Scores - Project Slapis Sahel
Fractional Skill Scores - Project Slapis Sahel

Case Study Analysis

The verification included specific case studies — such as the events of 20 and 30 August 2024 — to illustrate how the models performed under particular meteorological conditions. These cases (Figure 3) were used to assess the models’ ability to capture the spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation, with a focus on convective rainfall.

Precipitation comparison 20/08/2024 - Project Slapis Sahel

General Comparison

Overall, both WRF models (Burkina Faso and Niger) demonstrated better performance than the global GFS model.

Future Perspectives

As a perspective for improvement, future tests will aim to run both WRF models using open-access data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

Parallel Backup Chain and MOLOCH

In order to ensure a backup forecasting chain in case of outages affecting the operational systems of Niger and Burkina Faso during the rainy season, a parallel WRF chain was implemented on LaMMA’s cluster, using the same configuration adopted by DMN.

screenshot of the operational chain - Slapis Sahel project

What is Moloch?

Model Overview

MOLOCH (MOdel LOCal H-coordinates) is a non-hydrostatic, convection-resolving numerical weather prediction model developed by the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC) and used by the LaMMA Consortium. It features an Arakawa C-grid, a hybrid terrain-following coordinate system, and updated radiation and soil schemes. The microphysics scheme includes five hydrometeors and does not use graupel parametrization, unlike some WRF schemes.

– CORE: Non-hydrostatic, fully compressible, convection-resolving
– GRID: Arakawa C-grid, latitude-longitude, hybrid terrain-following
– RADIATION: ECMWF scheme (updated 2024)
– TURBULENCE: E–L Kinetic Energy, 1.5-order closure
– SOIL: 6-level DROPA scheme
– CUMULUS SCHEME: Kain-Fritsch

MOLOCH is widely used for temperature and precipitation forecasts in Italy, Spain, and Greece. The latest version is available on GitLab:
🔗 https://gitlab.com/isac-meteo/globo-bolam-moloch

In addition, an operational MOLOCH chain (what is MOLOCH? see box above) was also deployed to provide numerical forecasts for West Africa.  As a dedicated test comparing MOLOCH and WRF in the region showed that MOLOCH is two to three times faster than WRF.

Moloch as Innovative Solution

The deployment of MOLOCH in the Sahel is one of the innovative aspects of this study: the model has traditionally been used in mid-latitude regions (Davolio et al., 2020), and very few attempts had previously been made to run it in tropical environments using explicit convection schemes.

Thanks to its faster runtime, MOLOCH was able to simulate a wider domain covering all of West Africa at a spatial resolution of 3 km.

Image comparing two models Moloch and WRF

click the image to enlarge

Forecast Products & Visualization Tools

A web interface was developed to visualize outputs from both WRF and MOLOCH. This tool is available to DMN and ANAM forecasters to support daily operations and gather feedback on content and format improvements.

  1. Model Output Viewer
    This section provides access to the outputs of the WRF and MOLOCH models.
    Currently, both models are initialised using data from the GFS (Global Forecast System). Two forecast runs are available per day: one at 00 UTC and one at 12 UTC. 
    In the near future, additional forecast chains based on ECMWF Open Data are planned to be implemented.
  2. Archive Access
    Archived model outputs are available both as images and in GRIB format. These resources are intended to support daily bulletins as well as verification analyses and retrospective studies.
  3. Model Evaluation
    This section will collect performance assessments of WRF and MOLOCH, comparing model outputs with observed data from in-situ stations or satellite sources.

At the bottom of the page, a table summarises key characteristics of the two models, including resolution, microphysics schemes, convection treatment, domain, and input data sources.

Screenshot of the application developed in the project Slapis Sahel - Precipitation map Screenshot of the application developed in the project Slapis Sahel - Wind map

Preview of the Moloch model - Hourly precipitation and Hourly Mean Temperature

MOLOCH model hourly precipitation mm (6 km resolution), initialized with ECMWF IFS data

MOLOCH model hourly mean 2 meters temperature °C (6 km resolution), initialized with ECMWF IFS data

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]]> Slapis Sahel https://climateservices.it/progetto/slapis-sahel/ Tue, 11 Apr 2023 06:47:04 +0000 https://climateservices.it/?post_type=progetto&p=13835 SLAPIS SAHELProject Système Locale d’Alerte Précoce pour les Inondations au Sahel Slapis Sahel A Training and Research for Development Project The increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme hydro-meteorological events has prompted Sahelian governments to request support from the international community in implementing early warning systems to help vulnerable riverine communities manage the risk […]

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SLAPIS SAHEL
Project

Système Locale d’Alerte Précoce pour les Inondations au Sahel

Logo Università Torino, DIST
logo CNR-IBE Blu
Logo Meteorologie National Niger
Logo Agence Nationale Meteorologie Burkina Faso

Slapis Sahel

A Training and Research for Development Project

The increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme hydro-meteorological events has prompted Sahelian governments to request support from the international community in implementing early warning systems to help vulnerable riverine communities manage the risk of flooding. In the framework of the ANADIA2 project, a Flood Early Warning System (SLAPIS) has been developed, tested and implemented on the Niger section of the Sirba River, the main tributary of the Niger in its middle basin. Given the interest of the Governments of Niger and Burkina Faso in extending such a successful system, the SLAPIS Sahel project was formulated jointly by stakeholders from both countries with the support of the Italian partners of ANADIA2.

The broad objective of SLAPIS Sahel is “Reducing hydro-meteorological risk and supporting adaptation to climate change for sustainable development”.

The specific objective of the project Slapis Sahel is to “Strengthen the skills and capacities of the National Hydrometeorological Services of Burkina Faso and Niger by consolidating cross-border cooperation and reinforcing collaboration between the different administrative levels in each country to increase resilience towards floods and other extreme hydrometeorological phenomena”.

The relevance of this choice derives from the fact that since the 2000s, Niger and Burkina have been increasingly affected by floods, with a peak in 2020 that affected more than one hundred thousand people in Burkina Faso and more than six hundred thousand in Niger.

Expected Results

Strengthen the national institutions of Niger and Burkina Faso in charge of hydro-meteorological monitoring in terms of competencies and tools for monitoring, forecasting and analysis. Reinforce transboundary cooperation.
The put in place of a Transboundary Early Warning System for floods.
Strengthen understanding of flood phenomena and how to cope with them at all levels.

Beneficiaries

Actions to reduce the risk of flooding and adapt to climate change for the most vulnerable populations living along the Sirba and the other tributaries in Niger (225,152 inhabitants in 2012) and Burkina Faso (195,312 inhabitants in 2006).

The populations of the cities located along the Middle Niger and Niamey (1,565,056 inhabitants estimated in 2018).
Local administrations will benefit from operational tools for flood risk governance and local planning for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. National technical services in Niger and Burkina Faso will benefit from training, technical assistance, equipment, and innovative methodologies for flood risk assessment and monitoring.

Framework

The initiative is in line with: the Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Strategy Niger 2035, the 3N Initiative, the National Action Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change, the National Framework for Climate Services and the National Warning Code of Niger.

In Burkina Faso, the initiative is consistent with the country’s sectoral strategies, in particular, the National Framework for Climate Services, the National Food Security and Nutritional Policy, the National Civil Protection Policy and the National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Disasters and Humanitarian Crises in Burkina Faso.
SLAPIS Sahel contributes to the expectation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDG 13 – Take urgent action to address climate change and its impacts and, in particular, 13.3 – Improve training, awareness and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
SLAPIS Sahel contributes to the expectation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDG 13 – Take urgent action to address climate change and its impacts and, in particular, 13.3 – Improve training, awareness and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Project Reports

21/06/2025 | Rapport d'avancement - Prévision Numérique du Temps

Les activités de intégration des prévisions météorologiques dans la chaine d'alerte precoce SLAPIS Sahel ont vu un accelration due aux stages auprès du LaMMA des modelisateurs de ANAM et DMN. Dans cette période ndeux chaines opérationnelles WRF et MOLOCH ont été déployées. La vérification de WRF en version Niger et en version Burkina a été réalisée sur les saisons JAS 2023 et 2024. Tous les résultats sont inclus dans ce rapport.

30/11/2024 | Plan de Diffusion et Communication SLAPIS Sahel au Niger

Le Plan de Diffusion et Communication de SLAPIS Sahel a l’objectif de : Identifier les acteurs au niveau national et local participants au mécanisme d’information SLAPIS; Définir rôles et responsabilités des différents acteurs dans le cadre de SLAPIS, Plan de Diffusion et Communication SLAPIS Sahel au Niger; Identifier les besoins des acteurs sur la circulation de l’information des risques d’inondation pour rendre cohérent le mécanisme d’information et communication SLAPIS avec le cadre législatif national.

24/10/2024 | Rapport d'avancement - Géomatique

Rapport 2023-2024: Analyse des risques d'inondation par imagerie satellitaire en Afrique de l'Ouest. Deux études principales: 1. Burkina Faso: Surveillance des variations spatio-temporelles des limites des rivières sur 196 km² via Sentinel-2 (10m); 2. Niger: Création d'un MNT du fleuve Sirba avec images PLANET (3-4m) pour système d'alerte précoce.

21/10/2024 | Rapport d'avancement - Plateforme d’information SLAPIS v.2.0

Rapport du 22.06.2023 au 21.10.2024 sur le développement de la nouvelle plateforme web SLAPIS, dont les objectifs sont : l'extension du Système Local d’Alerte Précoce pour les Inondations et le renforcement ainsi que la valorisation de la connaissance scientifique appliquée à l’adaptation des territoires face aux changements climatiques.

21/10/2024 | Rapport d’avancement - Réduction du risque d’inondation

Rapport 22.06.2023 - 21.10.2024 sur les activités menées par l'Équipe de Réduction du Risque d'inondation, y compris la définition de la méthodologie d'analyse et d'évaluation du risque d'inondation, ainsi que la planification de la réduction des risques.

18/10/2024 | Rapport d’avancement - Connaissance du risque

Rapport 22/06/2023-21/09/2024 . Résultat attendu: Extension du Système Locale d’Alerte Précoce pour les Inondations; Connaissance du risque; Modèle hydraulique numérique pour la détermination des zones inondables.

09/10/2024 | Rapport d’avancement - Prévision Numérique du Temps

Rapport 22/06/2023-21/09/2024. Intégration des prévisions météorologiques numériques pour introduire dans le système la composante météo finalisée à l’alerte des évènements orageux intenses.

16/10/2024 | Rapport d’avancement - Hydrologie

Rapport 16/10/2024. Développement de modèles hydrauliques, pour la correction des prévisions météorologiques pour le bassin de la Sirba, et pour l’évaluation des risques d’inondation dans les zones ciblées.

30/06/2024 | Plan de Diffusion et Communication SLAPIS Sahel au Burkina Faso

Objectif du Plan: dans le cadre de SLAPIS identifier les acteurs au niveau national et local participants au mécanisme d’information, définir rôles et responsabilités des différents acteurs, identifier les besoins des acteurs sur la circulation de l’information des risques d’inondation pour rendre cohérent le mécanisme d’information et communication SLAPIS avec le cadre législatif national.

Publications

Implementing Actors

Logo Università Torino, DIST
logo CNR-IBE Blu
Logo Meteorologie National Niger
Logo Agence Nationale Meteorologie Burkina Faso

The project will be carried out by the Interuniversity Department of Science, Planning and Territorial Policies (DIST) of the Politecnico di Torino in collaboration with the Istituto per la Bioeconomia del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IBE-CNR), the Direction de la Météorologie Nationale (DMN) and the Direction de l’Hydrologie (DH) of Niger, the Agence Nationale de la Météorologie (ANAM) and the Direction des Etudes et de l’Information sur l’Eau (DEIE) of Burkina Faso.

Logo AICS

The project is co-financed by the AICS (70%) and the partners (30%) in accordance with art. 18 of the regulation (DPR 177/88) of law 49/87.

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]]> Anadia 2.0 https://climateservices.it/progetto/anadia/ Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:14:44 +0000 https://climateservices.it/cs_2020/?page_id=3958 Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Prevention and Agricultural Development for Food Security. A training and research project contributing to the development of sustainable agriculture, through the adaptation of production systems to climate change.

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Anadia 2.0
Project

A Training And Research Project​

Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Prevention and Agricultural Development for Food Security.

logo ANadia 2.0 project
logos of the Anadia project partners

ANADIA 2.0 involves rather than project partners other local Institutions (DH, DSA, CC/SAP, CNEDD) and International Organizations (CILSS/AGRHYMET, ABN). This partnership, since the first phase, allowed developing a thorough understanding of problems that threaten the food security of local populations and challenges for the development of a sustainable agriculture.

Meet ANADIA 2.0

5 Videos

About

map of the provinces involved in the project
Pilot Regions

ANADIA 2.0 is the second phase of the ANADIA Niger project. ANADIA 2.0 is a training and research project co-funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The project is implemented by the Institute of BioEconomy (IBE) – ex Institute of Biometeorology IBIMET – of the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy, in collaboration with the National Directorate of Meteorology (DMN) of Niger and the Inter-university Department of Science, Project and Policies territory (DIST) of the Polytechnic and the University of Turin, Italy.

The project contributes to the development of sustainable agriculture, through the adaptation of production systems to climate change, to make them less vulnerable to extreme events, supporting food security. In order to achieve these objectives, the project will strengthen the capacities of different actors at the national and local level. The project provides methodologies, implementation of theoretical and practical training modules and practical case studies, awareness raising, dissemination and information actions on project results.

The Context

Climate changes are a real threat to the population of Niger, whose livelihood is mainly related to family subsistence agriculture.
Climate variability and strong increase of extreme hydro meteorological events are affecting agriculture and are exacerbating food insecurity. In Niger, the vulnerability of production systems is related to ecosystems fragility and soil degradation. The rural poor are the most vulnerable to these events, because they cannot implement effective strategies of risk minimization.
map of Niger highlighting the provinces affected by flood
Map of Niger highlighting the people affected by flood by provinces

The Methodology

The project approach is to integrate a top down analysis (climate analysis techniques, remote sensing at medium and high resolution and spatial analysis with GIS) with local knowledge.

The approach of ANADIA 2.0 is to stimulate and facilitate the collaboration between the institutions involved at different administrative levels, and to identify or adapt analytical methodologies to specific contexts.

Les Ateliers
NIAMEY, 25/29 SEPTEMBER 2017
Les Ateliers
NIAMEY 29/31 JANUARY 2018
Les Ateliers
NIAMEY 29/31 JANUARY 2018

The Anadia 2.0
Brochure

Discover the project

Facilitating the adoption of Anadia 2.0 approach and tools by a wide number of institutions and instructors so as to fulfil their regional and national or institutional educational standards.

Download Brochure Français (644kb)
cover of the ANADIA 2.0 Brochure

Training Activities

Capacity Building

ANADIA Niger is implemented through a program of capacity building adapted to different levels – from national to local – and through a continuous experiences exchange, which allows the training of trainers gradually extending the number of beneficiaries.

Training goal: to stimulate collaboration between the different institutions involved, to identify and adapt appropriate methodologies to the specific context. 

Trainers role: to provide examples of methodology and to stimulate discussion and the active participation of stakeholders to integrate new approaches in their own field.

Participants role: to define the contents of the training and build the application process.

Case studies

Training will be accompanied by case studies at regional and local level in order to improve the methodological and analytical tools.

Training needs

  • Theoretical/practical training for regional technical services on climate risk analysis in agriculture with priority focus on floods and drought.
  • Specialized training in Italy (at RTC IBIMET) for the ANADIA 2 team on Databases, Climate services for disaster risk reduction and in the subregion on seasonal forecasts (PRESAO)
  • On the job training in the pilot municipalities of the target regions for the application of the ANADIA approach at the local level: training on local flood risk analysis and practical application with populations.
  • Training of farmers and extension agents in the use of raingauges
  • Training on hydrological observations.
  • Training of journalists of rural radios in the transmission of agrometeorological advises.
Download the anadia training brochure

Climate Risk Reduction
and Local Planning

Sustainable development needs a disaster risk reduction with adaptation to climate change and strengthening of productive capacities. Risk reduction involves concepts and practices to reduce exposure and vulnerability of people and goods at risk, through the rational management of environment.
  • Agrometeorological assistance to rural areas producers against the risk of drought. The aim of this activity is to reinforce agrometeorological assistance for rural producers in the target regions through the introducing of new communication and collaboration amongst producers, technical services (local and central) and rural stations.
  • Local Early Warning System for Floods of the Sirba (SLAPIS). The aim of this activity is to promote decision-making and behavioural changes at community level through the establishment of a community based early warning system that incorporates remote sensing, local observations of floods and local contingency plans.

In The press

Samira Sabou, “Plus de deux millions euros pour renforcer la résilience des populations et des systèmes de production”, The Sahel, 28 September 2017.
[click the button to read the article]

link to the article of Samira Sabou

SLAPIS

Système d’Alerte Precoce pour faire face et s’adapter aux changements climatiques et aux risque hydrologiques.
Link to the page Slapis Early Warning System
Link to the page Slapis Platforme d'information

Assistance Agrométéo

Services Météorologiques et Climatiques pour améliorer la productivité agricole et augmenter les revenus des agriculteurs.
link to the page Assistance Agrométéo

Posters

Reports

Papers

Link to all Publications

Blog Posts

Explore the Anadia BLOG

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