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Rain tracked with mobile network
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Feb 4, 2013, 7:10:57 PM2/4/13
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Rain tracked with mobile network
BBC
Monday, February 4, 2013
The mobile network data (left) were shown to be nearly as
informative as radar and rain gauges (right)
A way to measure rainfall using mobile phone network
signals has been put into practice across a whole
country.
Rain absorbs and scatters mobile phone signals in a way
that can be analysed to yield an overall rainfall
picture.
The trial in the Netherlands, outlined in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, showed the method is
comparable to radar and rain gauges.
But it can be put to use in the many regions where radar
is not installed, or where rain gauges are in decline.
High-quality precipitation data are needed for accurate
flood warnings, or to effectively manage local water
resources.
Yet the number of rain gauges has been dropping around
the world. A 2012 report in the Journal of
Hydrometeorology showed that from 1989 to 2006, rain
gauge numbers fell by half in Europe and 90% in South
America.
Mobile phone networks cover an area that includes 90% of
the world's population
The idea that the dip in signals from mobile phone masts
can be used to measure precipitation was first put
forward in a paper in Science in 2006.
The rise and fall of signal strength in each "link" - the
path from one mast to another - provides an average
measure of how much rain there is between them. As these
links criss-cross one another across a region, these
simple measures can be mathematically picked apart to
yield a map of the rainfall at a given moment.
Continues at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21290976
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
BBC
Monday, February 4, 2013
The mobile network data (left) were shown to be nearly as
informative as radar and rain gauges (right)
A way to measure rainfall using mobile phone network
signals has been put into practice across a whole
country.
Rain absorbs and scatters mobile phone signals in a way
that can be analysed to yield an overall rainfall
picture.
The trial in the Netherlands, outlined in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, showed the method is
comparable to radar and rain gauges.
But it can be put to use in the many regions where radar
is not installed, or where rain gauges are in decline.
High-quality precipitation data are needed for accurate
flood warnings, or to effectively manage local water
resources.
Yet the number of rain gauges has been dropping around
the world. A 2012 report in the Journal of
Hydrometeorology showed that from 1989 to 2006, rain
gauge numbers fell by half in Europe and 90% in South
America.
Mobile phone networks cover an area that includes 90% of
the world's population
The idea that the dip in signals from mobile phone masts
can be used to measure precipitation was first put
forward in a paper in Science in 2006.
The rise and fall of signal strength in each "link" - the
path from one mast to another - provides an average
measure of how much rain there is between them. As these
links criss-cross one another across a region, these
simple measures can be mathematically picked apart to
yield a map of the rainfall at a given moment.
Continues at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21290976
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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