Uzbekistan Data Rescue Project
98% of Uzbekistan’s electricity comes from hydroelectric generators. A solid understanding of past precipitation events is needed to ensure power remains uninterrupted.
Status: Ongoing
Hydrometeorological data since 1867
Uzhydromet, Uzbekistan’s hydroelectric agency, declared hydrometeorological data preservation and utilization as one of the major directions of the organization’s development. They identified the “Uzbekistan Climate Data Restoration Project” as a top priority. Early efforts estimated 17 million pages of data were needing rescue, offering a valuable picture of Uzbekistan’s climatic history.
Country involved
Uzbekistan
Contact on Site
Centre of Hydrometeorological Service (Uzhydromet), Ministry of Emergency Situations Dr. Natalia Agaltseva
Contact in IEDRO
Monica Drazba
Funding Sources
Korea Meteorological Administration (via WMO)
Project Status
Paused
Data Rescued
Over seven million pages have been rescued, but there is no indication the data has been digitized nor that the images are publicly available.
Why is this project specifically important?
Uzhydromet has 17 million pages of data which, when preserved and digitized for easy access and study, will support the planning and operation of dozens of industries in Uzbekistan. These data will help industries including agriculture, gas, and oil, and sectors such as auto and rail transportation, aviation, communication, civil engineering and construction, urban economic development, and tourism. Rescued data can also inform complex water resource management, power stations, and the understanding of climate change worldwide.
Updates on Our Project
March 2022: IEDRO staff trained Uzhydromet staff on digitization procedures to convert historical data into CSV files for future conversion into climate database management systems.
November 2019: Uzhydromet converted over 7 million pages of hydrometeorological observations into digital images. The operation was on track to complete the first phase of data rescue by the end of 2020.
June 2017: IEDRO visited for progress assessment, troubleshooting, and next-phase planning. Uzhydromet converted over 4 million pages of hydrometeorological observations into digital images. Digitization had not yet begun.
March 2016: IEDRO supported the installation of computer workstations to convert paper data to digital images and local storage devices with redundant backups
October 2014: IEDRO held an initial site and data assessment followed by project planning with Uzbek and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) project managers.
What are our plans for the future?
Next steps would be digitizing the information in the collected images for loading into database management systems for modeling and analysis by researchers, planners, and decision makers. IEDRO presently lacks access to the images and is thus waiting for conditions to change there.
