Angola currently has technological means to control the intensity levels and regularity of lightning strikes, revealed the deputy director for the Technical area of the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INAMET).
The person responsible informed that INAMET has a network for measuring atmospheric discharges, made up of three “robot-probes” for measuring meteorological variables, from the surface to 32 km in altitude.
"The assessment made by these machines is complemented with the results of data obtained by the network of surface meteorological stations".
According to Isidro Tuleni, these instruments are making daily measurements of the country's atmospheric phenomena.
"The regularity of this work also aims to create a database, to assess whether storms are increasingly violent and how frequent they are in each region of the national territory, as well as the possible causes of such changes or increase in intensity.", said.
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The deputy director for the Technical area of INAMET informed that lightning or atmospheric discharges occur when there is a high amount of humidity at high levels, that is, temperatures below zero degrees Celsius.
"When there is humidity at high levels, it is a sign that the rain will be accompanied by supercooled droplets and ice crystals, which, when colliding, stimulate the electrification of the cloud and consequent atmospheric discharges.”, He stated.
Finally, Isidro Tuleni said that data obtained by INAMET in recent months indicates that this year there will be an occurrence of rain above the climatological normal in almost the entire northern region of the country, especially in the provinces of Luanda and parts of Cuanza-Sul and Benguela.
For this rainy season, especially in the months of January, February and March of next year, projections indicate intense rains in the North region, as well as a level close to the climatological average throughout the South region.
"These rains may or may not be accompanied by strong atmospheric discharges."He said.
