Philippines, New Zealand sign deal on weather data exchange

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has partnered with New Zealand’s MetService to improve the dissemination of weather data to the public.

PAGASA deputy administrator Flaviana Hilario and MetService chief executive officer Peter Lennox recently signed a memorandum of understanding for technology and data exchange “to achieve world-class weather intelligence reporting and weather data visualization solutions for the Philippines.”

PAGASA’s typhoon forecasts, radar and warnings data, observations and other forecasts will be made available to MetraWeather, a private subsidiary of MetService.

“MetService is working with PAGASA to make weather information more accurate, digestible and quick,” Lennox said.

Lennox said this is the first time MetService has partnered with a government-owned weather agency and this partnership is important, especially in times of typhoons and natural disasters.

Among the services that MetService works on are lightning detection and ocean technology.

The MOU creates a framework for both organizations to share data and technology.

Metra is a member of the United Nations World Meteorological Organization. It has over a hundred clients in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Australia.

Three of the Philippines’ major television networks – GMA-7, TV5 and CNN Philippines – work closely with MetraWeather to enhance their public safety communication capability, including taking high-resolution satellite and model data that enable forecasting at suburban as well as metropolitan and provincial levels.

Meanwhile, PAGASA launched yesterday its new website which officials said is more user-friendly.

The new website, scheduled to be fully operational by April or May, will project potential damage of a tropical cyclone’s winds, PAGASA administrator Vicente Malano said.

The inclusion of a tropical cyclone’s direct effects in the PAGASA’s forecasts is part of the agency’s effort towards “impact-based forecasting.”