PAGASA launches tool to monitor extreme rainfall
MANILA, Philippines — State weather bureau PAGASA on Thursday launched a web-based platform to monitor extreme rainfall events, which can help decision makers and the general public mitigate disasters.
PAGASA launched Satellite Rainfall Extremes Monitor (SatREx) during the celebration of the National Meteorological Day.
SatREx, which can be accessed through PAGASA’s official website, shows near-real-time information on extreme rainfall events.
“Determining whether extreme rainfall is occurring at any given time and location is of utmost importance for mitigating disasters in highly-vulnerable countries like the Philippines,” the agency said.
The Philippines is one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change such as strong cyclones, droughts and sea level rise, with poor and rural communities bearing the brunt of disasters.
SatREx provides satellite rainfall estimates observed in the past few hours and days in a particular location anywhere in the archipelago. The estimates were derived from the Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
“We translated information from that dataset, we extracted them, and used them for providing near-real-time rainfall estimates. We translate such kinds of observed rainfall relative to historical rainfall data and determine areas with possibility of flooding,” said Dr. Marcelino Villafuerte II, chief of impact assessment and applications section of PAGASA’s Climatology and Agrometeorology Division.
The National Meteorological Day is celebrated concurrently with the World Meteorological Day.
This year’s World Meteorological Day theme is the future of weather, climate and water across generations.
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