MANILA, Philippines -- In its bid to help people prepare for typhoons, heavy rains, and severe flooding, Globe Telecom has joined Metro Weather for free and almost real-time weather data.
The telco's online weather project covers Metro Manila, Rizal and Corregidor.
By providing information and communications infrastructure to Metro Weather, Globe hopes to promote awareness of environmental issues to its employees and stakeholders, and prompt them to participate in activities that help conserve the environment and mitigate climate change.
"We’re delighted to be part of the Metro Weather alliance which is a very important endeavor that will surely enable various organizations to increase their readiness and disaster risk resilience," said Rob Nazal, head of Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.
Metro Weather uses 30 automated weather stations (AWS) placed in sites hosted by Globe and other partners which include the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Chevron (through Caltex retail stations) in critical Metro manila cities and strategic areas in Rizal such as Antipolo City, Rodriguez, Angono, and Jala-Jala as well as in Corregidor.
Aside from hosting some of the AWS sites, Globe also powers the data transmission from the weather stations to the MMDA through the Manila Observatory and Ateneo de Manila University.
Globe said information can be accessed free of charge in the web sites of Metro Weather (metroweather.com.ph), weatherlink.com and MMDA’s Metro Manila Traffic Navigator web app. Data includes information on current rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, solar radiation and ultraviolet index.
The weather stations are spread over an approximate area of 625 square kilometers and are distributed so that each station covers roughly 25 square meters. Data from the stations may be used to warn of severe weather conditions and will provide critical data for ongoing research on urban disaster risk due to extreme weather and variability.