METEOROLOGY 99 



CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA 



The meteorological service of British East Africa was developed 

 in 1929, principally with a view to the organization of meteoro- 

 logical studies throughout East Central Africa, but also in order to 

 connect under a single organization a series of stations along the 

 Imperial Airways route. This is the reason for the inclusion in the 

 group of Northern Rhodesia, although this territory is affected to 

 a large extent by climatic conditions in areas farther south. The 

 service does not cover Nyasaland. The central office is at Nairobi, 

 where a qualified statistician, Mr. Walter, is in charge of the corre- 

 lation of all data. ^£"7,000 per annum is contributed toward this 

 service by the Governments of Egypt, Sudan, Zanzibar, and the 

 East African colonies. Egypt contributes the largest share because 

 the highland rainfall controls so much of the Nile's water-supply. 



There are five first order stations, at Kampala, Kabete, Tabora, 

 Zanzibar, and Broken Hill. Here hourly values of the meteoro- 

 logical elements are recorded and upper air data are obtained 

 from pilot balloon ascents twice daily. Only a few magnetic, 

 electric, and solar radiation data are collected, but further mag- 

 netic results are being obtained with the assistance of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington. There are forty-eight second order 

 stations, of which eleven are in Kenya, fifteen in Uganda, twelve 

 in Tanganyika and eight in Northern Rhodesia. These stations 

 take full climatological observations twice daily and at three 

 (Dodoma, Mbeya, and Mpika), pilot balloon ascents are made. 

 In addition, 750 rainfall stations record the daily rainfall, and at 

 160 the temperature is also read. Of these, 310 are in Kenya, 

 90 in Uganda, 200 in Tanganyika, and 150 in Northern Rhodesia. 

 There appears to be need for a better organized system of wireless 

 communication to promote closer contact between the adjoining 

 British territories and with the foreign colonies, especially the 

 Congo. It is worth noting that the study of daily weather variations 

 in East Africa and also in Rhodesia is rendered difficult by the 

 lack of topographical surveys, because heights of some of the 

 barometric stations are not known with sufficient accuracy. 



Before this service was established, each of the territories had its 

 own network of recording stations and the data from separate areas 

 had been analysed by several authorities, especially Brooks (1924) 



