Mobile phones to record rainfall

Staff Writer | Monday March 9, 2015 17:49

 

BITRI recoginises that a limitation to the provision of rainfall data at the desired spatial scales is sparse density of rain gauge stations in the country.

In a statement, BITRI said Cellular networks communications work by transmitting consistent electromagnetic signals from one antennae to the other, but worthy of note is that rainfall causes a weakening of these electromagnetic signals.

Therefore, using the right tools, the weakening of the signal by rainfall can be utilised to deduce the amount of rainfall.

The study will use input data from Botswana Telecommunication Cooperation and also rainfall from the Department of Meteorological Services synoptic for validation.

Climate variability and change are serious challenges to sustainable development in Africa and timely provision of weather information at the appropriate spatial scale is  seen as crucial for both tactical and strategic decision making by various stakeholders such as farmers to aid their adaptation against climate change, water resources and ecosystems planning and management.

The mandate of the BITRI is to develop, adopt or enhance technologies for the benefit of Batswana in order to improve lives and provide equal opportunities.