The Rwenzori Mountains (called also “Mountains of the Moon”), with heights of up to 5,109 m asl., are located in the central Africa, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the Ugandan National Park an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the Rwenzori Range some of the main peaks are covered with permanent snow and glacier, while the lower slopes are covered with dense forest. Besides there are several massifs such as Point Margherita, the third highest African summit after, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya.
The first AWS (Automatic Weather Station) RW was installed, in Uganda, in the western part of the Stanley Plateau, on July 18, 2006. This station worked in continuous from 2006 to 2009. In 2009 the station interruppted its work due to difficult environmental conditions, and in 2013 this station was replaced with a new one.
Geographical coordinates:
- Latitude: 0° 22' 34.55" N
- Longitude: 29° 52' 43.24" E
- Elevation: 4.750 m a.s.l.
The first AWS provided in continuous, till 2009, measurements of the seven standard meteorological parameters:
- air temperature (°C);
- relative humidity(%);
- wind speed (m/s);
- wind direction (degree);
- atmospheric pressure (hPa);
- global solar radiation (W/m2);
- total precipitation (mm).
In 2013 the new station has been equipped also with sensors to measure albedo and snow level.
The automatic weather stations (AWS) for monitor meteorological conditions are currently included in the SHARE network.
An automatic weather station (AWS) is defined as a “meteorological station at which observations are made and transmitted automatically” (WMO, 1992a).
In particular, in the framework of the SHARE project for all parameters, the data has been visually checked, looking for extremely and unusual low/high values and/or periods with constant values.