The station was purchased under the project “The Relationship Relief-Microclimate-Vegetation (on the example of the Chernatitsa ridge, Western Rhodopes)”, with the project leader Prof. Dr. Nina Nikolova. The expansion of the network of meteorological stations of the department and the inclusion of new territories is an indicator of the sustainability of research. This ensures the implementation of long-term monitoring, through which a database is created for future research work.

AWS Elhovets, located at 778 m a.s.l., along the river Elhovska

The area for the station was provided by Anton Bayraktarov, a climate research enthusiast, who contacted Prof. Georgi Rachev (Sofia University) and suggested the possibility of installing a weather station. The area is extremely interesting in terms of climate. It is known for its heavy rainfall, especially during the autumn-winter period, and for frequent floods along most rivers, including the main Arda river. With the implementation of the AMS - Elhovets, the awareness of the population will be improved with up-to-date meteorological information, which is vitally necessary in cases of force majeure. The assembly, installation and maintenance of the station are carried out by assistant professors from Sofia University Simeon Matev and Dimitar Krenchev, with the assistance of Anton Bayraktarov.

The data from the measurements are published on the Internet and are available free of charge at: https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/elhovets/PWS%20Elhovets.htm.

The mayor of the municipality of Rudozem, Nedko Kulevski, and the mayor of the village of Elhovets, Veneta Sokolova, provided logistical and public support for the launch of AMS-Elhovets.

The station near the village of Elhovets is the next in a row launched AWS, thanks to the work of the lecturers from the Department of "Climatology, Hydrology and Geomorphology". A few days ago, another AWS started working, located at 729 m above sea level, in the area of the village of Svezhen, Karlovsko. The data can be seen at: https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/svezhen/PWS%20Svezhen.htm.

The network of meteorological stations of the Department of "Climatology, Hydrology and Geomorphology" of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" also includes the following stations:

AWS at Rila Monastery - https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/rilamon/PWS%20Rilamon.htm,

AWS at village Bryanovstitsa - https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/bryanovshtitsa/PWS%20Bryanovshtitsa.htm,

AWS at hut Begovitsa (Pirin Mountain) - https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/begovitsa/PWS%20Begovitsa.htm,

AWS at the Rectorate, Sofia University - https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/rektorat/PWS%20Rektorat.htm,

AWS at the Botanical Garden, Sofia University - https://www.weatherlink.com/embeddablePage/show/d1aef914c147448ca859b33482f4ab71/summary

Sofia, Orlandovtsi neighborhood - https://www.stringmeteo.com/stations/orlando/PWS%20Orlando.htm

The Department of "Climatology, Hydrology and Geomorphology" organizes the meteorological measurements and the meteorological database by applying the principle of FAIR data (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), i.e. easy findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability of data. It is planned to publish the AWS data on the Micrometeorological Knowledge Share Platform, developed within the framework of COST Action CA20108 – FAIR NETwork of micrometeorological measurements (https://www.fairness-ca20108.eu/).