More about the South African Weather Service team on the recent Gough Island takeover expedition.
L-R: James Joubert Burns, Velelo Mazele, Samkelisiwe Thwala, Khuliso Collen Maphaha, Fulufhelo Brenda Khobo and Kelcey Maewashe.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has been part of the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) from the beginning, when the first team was appointed to stay on Gough Island. The metkassies (meteorological overwintering team members) continue to contribute to a long history of data collection on Gough Island. This includes an automatic weather station that measures temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, and pressure.
What can the new overwintering team on the island look forward to?
The metkassies when on shift do visual observations which includes cloud height and type, horizontal visibility, precipitation type, weather present and past and sea temperature. Formal observation is done every hour from 06:00GMT until 15:00GMT and then every 3 hours during night shift. This is done every day of the week.
| TEAM | South African Weather Service (SAWS) |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Atmospheric and Ocean interaction studies |
| Principal Investigator | Dr. Jonas Mphepya |
| Takeover Team Leader | Samkelisiwe Thwala |
| Takeover Technical Support Member | Velelo Mazele |
| Senior Meteorological Technician (Gough68) | Khuliso Collen Maphaha |
| Assistant Meteorological Technician (Gough68) | Mphumzi Brooklyn Zilindile |
| Assistant Meteorological Technician (Gough68) | Tshililo Kharivha |
| Senior Meteorological Technician (Gough69) | Kelcey Maewashe |
| Assistant Meteorological Technician (Gough69) | James Joubert Burns |
| Assistant Meteorological Technician (Gough69) | Fulufhelo Brenda Khobo |
-
- Takeover operations.
-
- James Joubert Burns and Mphumzi Brooklyn Zilindile.
-
- 2023 Gough Island Takeover Function. L-R: Kelcey Maewashe (G69), Fulufhelo Brenda Khobo (G69), James Joubert Burns (G69), Samkelisiwe Thwala, Tshililo Kharivha (G68)
-
- 2023 Gough Island Takeover Function. L-R: L-R: Khuliso Collen Maphaha (G68), Kelcey Maewashe (G69), Fulufhelo Brenda Khobo (G69) , James Joubert Burns (G69) , Samkelisiwe Thwala , Velelo Mazele.
Check out the SAWS Marine Portal
Follow SAWS on Facebook | Follow SAWS on X | Follow SAWS on Instagram
Project information supplied by SAWS. Images supplied by Mbulaheni Kelcey Maewashe and James Burns (G69 team members).
Anche Louw, South African Polar Research Infrastructure, 09 November 2023.
