Mont-aux-sources: The South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), in partnership with the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) at the University of the Free State, has established the highest weather station in Southern Africa in the Mont-aux-Sources area of the Maluti-Drakensberg. This automatic weather station, situated at 3,100 meters above sea level, aims to provide essential real-time climate data crucial for understanding the region’s biodiversity.

According to South African Government News Agency, the station’s location atop the iconic amphitheatre is significant for the continuous monitoring of alpine and high-altitude ecosystems of the Drakensberg, which are critical for research and conservation. This initiative is part of a larger network of advanced research infrastructure being deployed across the Northern Drakensberg.

The weather station, which records temperature, humidity, wind, incoming solar radiation, rainfall, and barometric pressure, is a collaborative effort between SAEON’s Exp
anded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network (EFTEON), the SAEON Grasslands Node, and the ARU. Dr. Kathleen Smart, biogeochemist and manager of EFTEON Northern Drakensberg, emphasized the importance of these measurements in tracking climate change and catchment health.

Professor Ralph Clark, Director of the ARU, highlighted the station as a result of years of collaboration and its importance in understanding environmental processes crucial for water security and biodiversity. The station is one of five along an altitudinal gradient from the University of the Free State’s Qwaqwa Campus to the Maloti-Drakensberg escarpment.

The weather station enhances ongoing research initiatives within the Mount-Aux-Sources Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Platform (MaS-LTSER), Africa’s only cross-border, mountain-focused LTSER platform. This open-air laboratory continuously monitors streamflow and wetland water content and hosts the highest research accommodation facility in Africa.

Professor Joha
n van Tol, leading the MaS-LTSER initiative, noted the station’s installation was overseen by Abri de Buys and Jeremy Moonsamy, EFTEON’s technicians. Van Tol pointed out the region’s importance for local livelihoods and its role in supporting major South African river systems.

Moonsamy emphasized the strategic significance of the area as a water source, while De Buys highlighted the lack of data from high mountainous regions, which SAEON is beginning to explore. SAEON, established in 2002 under the National Research Foundation, focuses on environmental change research.