RN64, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dar es Salaam means “House of Peace”  in Arabic. Founded in 1862 by Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar, present day Dar's origins have been influenced by a myriad of Sultans, the Germans and the British. The city started as a fishing village in the mid 19th century, is now Tanzania's largest city, and has become one of East Africa’s most important ports and trade centres. With a population of around 2.5 million, it is also the country's richest city and an economic centre of regional importance. 

Dar es Salaam's weather is humid and hot during the dry season from September to March, and humid and cooler following the long rainy season from June to August. During the dry season temperatures can easily soar to above 35°C. The city is situated on a massive natural harbour on the Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Africa. Being situated so close to the equator and the warm Indian Ocean, the city generally experiences tropical climatic conditions.

Radionuclide station RN64 is located adjacent to the Physics Building on the expansive grounds of the University of Dar es Salaam. This was considered most suitable, given the closed environment and minimal through traffic. The area is easily accessible and has a developed infrastructure and support services. The air sampler and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) antenna have been installed on the roof. The French company, Environment, S.A. is the contracted station operator with local staff sub-contracted to perform local operations tasks. Learn more about how the radionuclide technology works.

RN64 is equipped with a Finnish-made SENYA Snow White airsampler. Located on a 4m tall mast integrated into the air sampler open shelter, this meteorological system measures precipitation, air temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction. Intrusion and tamper sensors are installed at the station. The station operation software is the standard CTBTO supplied package, and manages all station equipment (i.e. sampler, detector, bar code readers, state of health, meteorological and tamper sensors). All data from RN64 are sent to the CTBTO's Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) in Vienna via the Global Communication Infrastructure (GCI). The Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) is the institute that has been designated by the Tanzanian Government to operate radionuclide station RN64 and assumed the role of station operator in early 2008.

International Monitoring System (IMS) personnel visited the station in March 2007 for certification purposes after completion of initial testing. During the station visit, all technical information submitted was reviewed and discussed, the station’s facilities were inspected and a number of technical tests were performed. The visit was successful since the station was deemed well-installed and well-operated. Data from the station was admitted to IDC Operations between January 2007 and May 2007.  Evaluation showed that the station was capable of fulfilling all minimum requirements and providing high quality data. In terms of data availability, RN64 received a perfect score (100%) for the testing and evaluation period under consideration. The station was thus certified on 7 June 2007.