SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF METEOROLOGICAL EQUATOR 
Willy Sande Goma 
Zambia Meteorological Service 
Department of Meteorology 
P.O.Box 310095 
Lusaka, 15301 Zambia 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 1 
ABSTRACT 
Zambia being land locked in southern hemisphere it's weather is influenced to large extent by the migratory 
synoptic systems of the southern mid-latitude. There are two main seasons wet from November to April and 
dry from may to October. The rainy season is mainly governed by the intertropical convergence zone (ITC2). 
This ITCZ is a weather phenomena formed by three tradewinds namely (i) Northwesterly tradewinds from 
Atlantic Ocean which originates as southeasteries but recurve eastward and enter Zambia through Zaire, (ii) 
Southeasterly tradewinds from the Indian Ocean, (iii) Northeasterlies tradewinds from northern hemisphere 
high pressure over Saudi Arabia and Peninsular India. However, tropical cyclones developing in the 
southwest Indian Ocean usually travelling west, then southwest, and then recurving southeast, are a feature of 
late summer forming mostly during December and February when the sea-surface temperature is at or this is 
near their maximum and the ITCZ is present to provide the converging air stream. Through an oceanic 
phenomena, some cyclones in the some cases have moved considerable distance in land and caused heavy 
rains and floods. This paper discusses the use of satellite pictures in our operational forecasting office. The 
utility of space based satellite data collection in observation of ocean and surface area or upper air data which 
lead to variation in weather condition due to their surface and ocean condition. These satellite pictures have 
been very helpful especially during our surface weather analysis and when data is sparse on our synoptic 
surface charts. 
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