The UCadMet Network emerged from a long-standing cooperation between Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD, Senegal) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM, Spain), which supported regular exchanges of students and researchers. Initial in-situ observations began at the Laboratoire de Physique de l’Atmosphère et de l’Océan, Siméon Fongang (LPAOSF, École Supérieure Polytechnique, UCAD), and growing interest in these early measurements led to the creation of a continuous, high-quality monitoring network after 2017.

Building and operating the network without dedicated funding presents challenges, including maintaining consistent time series, ensuring technical support, and training qualified personnel. However, having an on-site, researcher-operated network provides major advantages: direct knowledge of measurement conditions, better control over data quality, the ability to adapt instrumentation and locations as needed, and valuable training that strengthens local capacity in atmospheric observation and station maintenance.

UCadMet aligns with the following objectives:

• To ensure sustainable, high-quality, long-term meteorological observations in strategic locations in West Africa
• To support the analysis of West African meteorology and climate, along with their societal impacts
• To promote academic, scientific, and technical collaboration between UCAD and UCM, and by extension, between other universities of the world.

These objectives are pursued through the installation, maintenance, and management of high-quality meteorological observation sites, as well as through collaboration and exchange among academics, scientists, and students.