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The Department of Meteorology
Cyprus participated in the 19th Congress of the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), which took place in Geneva during the
period from May 22 till June 02. The Department was represented at the
Congress by its Director, Dr Kleanthis Nicolaides, with his capacity as the
Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the organization.
Among
the resolutions discussed was the announcement of Meteorological,
Environmental and Hydrological observing stations of WMO’s member countries
to “centennial” stations, i.e. stations that have completed uninterrupted
operation for at least one hundred (100) years. Cyprus has several such
stations, while, during the 19th Congress, five (5) more stations
of the Department were named centennial stations. These stations are the rain
gauge stations of Drouseia, Ayios Neofytos, Kykkos, Kalo Chorio Lemesou and
Palaichori, as shown in the following table. The table also shows the date of
operation of each station.
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Station No.
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Station_Name
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Start of operation
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10
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Drousheia (F.S.)
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01/06/1908
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50
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Ay. Neofytos (Mon.)
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01/02/1903
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180
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Kykkos (Mon.)
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01/11/1901
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400
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Kalo Chorio, Lemesos (P.S.)
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01/01/1912
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450
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Palaichori (P.S.)
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01/03/1908
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With the designation of these 5 stations as centennial stations, the
Department of Meteorology now has a total of 14 centennial stations, which
are considered a lot compared to the size of the island.
It is important to emphasize
the fact that, at the current Congress but also worldwide, a total of 118
stations were named centennial stations, 5 of which belong to Cyprus.
Centennial
stations with long and uninterrupted time series of observations are of great
importance for WMO, since much more reliable long-term climate data are
extracted, while climate models are being checked at the same time.
Photo 1: WMO’s President, Professor Adrian Gerhard, hands over
the centennial certificates to Cyprus’ WMO Representative and Director of the
Department, Dr K. Nicolaides
Photo 2: The Permanent
Representatives of the countries whose stations were declared as centennial
stations, with WMO President, Professor Adrian Gerhard.
(MV/ECHR)
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