Australia Awards South and West Asia

Australia Awards – Nepal recently assisted two officials from the Government of Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to attend the 30^th Australian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society (AMOS) Conference 2024 in Canberra, Australia, through the support of an Australian Professional Opportunity. The delegates who attended the conference were Dr Archana Shrestha, the Deputy Director General of the Meteorological Forecasting Division, and Nirajan Sapkota, the Senior Divisional Meteorologist.

The AMOS Conference profiles the latest findings and applications of meteorology, climate science and oceanography across local, national and global scales. As Australia’s pre-eminent meeting in the field, it promotes understanding and application of the relevant sciences for the benefit of Australia and neighbouring countries. The Society supports and fosters interest in meteorology and oceanography through its publications, meetings, workshops, public events, grants and prizes.

This year’s conference was held on 5–9 February. Over 40 thematic sessions took place at the conference, covering climate projections, weather forecasting, seasonal forecasting, extreme events, weather and climate impacts and risks, renewable energy, health, water, agriculture, economics and business, social change, and education and outreach. The delegates were accompanied at the conference by Ajay Adhikari, who is a Research Officer at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Through attending the conference, the delegates enhanced their knowledge of important climate-related topics, including modelling, prediction and projections of climate variability; atmospheric dynamics of climate and extreme weather; equity and justice in climate services; early warning systems; realisation of the Paris Agreement pledges; and extreme weather and climate events.

Dr Shrestha delivered a presentation at the conference on ‘Recent extreme weather events in Nepal and challenges in operational weather forecasting’. She discussed uncommon features of three significant weather events: the first tornado recorded in the plain Terai region on 31 March 2019, the heavy precipitation incident reported in the high Himalaya region on 14 June 2021 and the heavy rainfall experienced across Nepal in October 2021. She also discussed the possible correlation between these incidents and climate change, as well as the practical difficulties in weather forecasting in Nepal.

In addition to attending the conference, the delegates also had the opportunity to participate in several meetings in Canberra and Melbourne with organisations that work on mitigating climate change. The delegates exchanged learnings and ideas with the National Computational Infrastructure and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Canberra, as well as meeting with the Embassy of Nepal in Canberra, the University of Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne.

The networking between the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology delegates and these organisations and institutes opened a pathway to develop a strong and sustainable partnership between Nepal and Australia. With the support of such new collaborations, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology aims to learn more about how to use new meteorological instruments in Nepal. The delegates also plan to use these networks to share knowledge of climate science in the Himalayan regions of Nepal.

Australian Professional Opportunities are learning and development activities funded by the Australian Government and facilitated by Australia Awards.

Photo credit: The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society