by Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan – The
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Basilan installed the automated
rain gauge (ARG) in Atong-Atong, Lantawan Municipality on Thursday, placing
Basilan in the national map of monitored rainfall activity.
Provincial Science and Technology Director
Myra Alih said at the formal launching of the ARG installation at the
provincial Capitol that the equipment can provide real time and accurate data
on rainfall in the province, which is key to disaster mitigation.
“Every year, the Philippines experiences
strong typhoons with heavy rains and flooding during monsoon season. In recent
past, these natural phenomena have plagued the country, claiming many lives and
millions worth of properties,” she explained.
Alih added that in preparation for such
calamities, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), in
cooperation with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA), both attached to the DOST, have enhanced the country’s
capability in monitoring real-time weather disturbances by developing and
producing low-cost system solutions and instrumentations.
The Automated Rain Gauge (ARG) deployment is
part of the Development of Hybrid Weather Monitoring System and Production of
Weather and Rain Automated Stations Project, which aims to develop and deploy a
network of automated weather stations and ARGs to monitor real-time weather changes
occurring in specific localities all over the country.
The Provincial Science and Technology
Director of Maguindanao Abdulmasa K. Pangilan together with his assistant APSTD
Marilyn C. Manibpal provided technical assistance in the installation of the ARG
in Lantawan Municipality immediately after the launching in Isabela City.
Pangilan said the gauging station is
developed to gather and record the amount of rainfall over a set period of time
and automatically sends the data to a central base station on a pre-determined
interval basis.
“The rainfall data are sent wirelessly
through the cellular network as a text message or Short Messaging System (SMS).
It is equipped with the ASTI-developed datalogger platform GSM Data Acquisition
Terminal (GDAT) that serves as the mini-computer or brain that intelligently
controls all the functions and data communications of the station,” he said.
He added that the ARG is designed to be
rugged and standalone, “the station can be deployed even in the harshest remote
areas and can operate continuously as it gets power from the sun backed up by
the internal rechargeable battery.”
A memorandum of agreement was signed in
between and among the DOST-ARMM headed by OIC Regional Secretary Dr. Abdulgalib
I. Halud, the Provincial Government of Basilan as represented by Provincial
Administrator Engr. Tahir Latip and the Municipal Government of Lantawan headed
by Mayor Rustam Ismael.
Speaking in Tausog dialect, Mayor Ismael
expressed his gratitude to the DOST-ARMM officials for visiting Basilan and
bringing assistance from the national government for the good of the people. He
is also thankful for the trust given to Lantawan as host to the ARG equipment,
which is installed at the perimeter of the municipal hall. “This is big for us and
we really appreciate it,” he said.
Ismael assured that the equipment will be
well taken care of under his watch because of its value to save lives
especially with the erratic weather condition that the nation and the world
experience.
After the installation, Pangilan briefed
local technical personnel on how the equipment works. He said the system uses a
tipping bucket rain gauge that measures the amount of precipitation or rain
that has fallen. Data from the tipping bucket rain gauge is collected and sent
automatically via SMS (short messaging system or text) at a desired interval to
a server. Default interval is 15 minutes. Then transmitted data are validated
and processed by PAGASA personnel. Evaluated data and possible warning can be
accessed by the public through the internet. Anybody could google, just type predict/stations in the internet to
locate the site for information.