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PAGASA unveils weather station in Bulacan, eyes more in other provinces

Article (news)

Raphael Bosano

ABS-CBN News

BULACAN — Communities in Bulacan can expect more localized weather and climate data which they can use to enhance disaster risk reduction and management by forecasting and warning against various hydro-meteorological hazards.This, following state weather bureau PAGASA’s launch of the first synoptic weather station in the town of San Ildefonso.PAGASA Administrator Dr. Nathaniel Servando said the country’s 83rd synoptic station is equipped with state-of-the-art observational instruments including a digital barometer for the measurement of atmospheric pressure, aerovane and anemometer for wind direction and speed, rain gauges, as well as several thermometers for dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature that are useful for the determination of relative humidity, heat index, and minimum temperature.The station also has solar radiation sensors which are used to measure bright sunshine duration and total or global irradiance coming from the sun’s disk.Servando said the data from the station will be most useful for the agriculture sector.“The agriculture sector heeds weather information. (The) agricultural productivity relies heavily on various weather parameters like how heavy rainfall is during the wet season, information on typhoons as well as floods that may affect production,” he said.Servando added that the construction industry also heavily depends on climate and weather data like wind speed and strength.“This is a big help during extreme weather events and even for students needing various types of data for their research.”The Bulacan station is manned by three trained weather observers and runs a 24/7 operation.Data collected from the station will also be an opportunity to establish local thresholds for the province. Prior to the having its own station, the province used data coming from other nearby stations in Central Luzon like Pampanga and Zambales.With climate and weather extremes now becoming more and more of a frequent occurrence, PAGASA says in the pipeline are the establishment of 10 more stations in areas that need them including Marinduque, Basilan, Kalinga, Leyte, Davao Del Sur, North Cotabato, Dapitan, and Cavite, among others.“Ang hangarin namin, lahat ng mga probinsiya, all in all, ang nakaprogram ay about 100 stations.”(Our hope is for all provinces to have stations. All in all, what is programmed is about 100 stations.)Servando admitted, however, that this does not come without challenges. Aside from funding, each station requires manpower especially if they run on 24 hours.

Communities in Bulacan can expect more localized weather and climate data which they can use to enhance disaster risk reduction and management by forecasting and warning against various hydro-meteorological hazards.

Communities in Bulacan can expect more localized weather and climate data which they can use to enhance disaster risk reduction and management by forecasting and warning against various hydro-meteorological hazards.