Knowing Weather Forecast... is easy as 1-2-3

Automated Weather Station, to be installed on city hall grounds

The Local Government of Cotabato City will soon be able to give up-to-date information about the weather with the installation of the Automated Weather Station on the People’s Palace’s grounds. 

This project is jointly sponsored by the Aboitiz Group of Companies, League of Cities of the Philippines, Unionbank, and Weather Philippines and amounts to 2,500 U.S Dollars or more than a hundred thousand pesos. 

This device is composed of an Integrated Sensor Suite (ISS), an Anemometer, a Console, and a metrilog. These will be used to measure the temperature, humidity, wind, and the amount of rainfall that will be helpful in monitoring the weather in the city and be able to minimize the risk of a disaster. 

With it, we will be able to determine whether a typhoon or simply a Low Pressure is approaching the city, hence, we will be able to prepare ourselves. We will also be able to calculate the amount of rainfall and its effects on the city’s main tributary—the Rio Grande de Mindanao. 

The AWS is solar powered so there is no need for electricity, thus making it operational 24/7. It also requires very low maintenance and is very user friendly. However, installing this equipment has its conditions such as placing it under direct sunlight and avoiding obscurations like buildings or trees—all of these discussed in a training-workshop attended by some representative from the City Engineering Office and Secretary to the Mayor Aniceto V. Rasalan. 

“We don’t have the schedule yet as to when the Automated Weather Station will be installed on the city hall grounds but once it is already in place, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) will be the ones to handle the equipment”, Rasalan said in a presscon held Tuesday-September 9, 2012 .

Along with the unit comes a console to be set up at the Radio Room inside the city hall. The AWS will automatically send the data it has gathered to the console every 15 minutes. It will also send data to Weather Philippines, a group helping the PAGASA in monitoring the country’s weather. 

Once a weather update will be complete, the city government will be releasing information to the public thru the local media.