PCIEERD Outstanding R&D Awards 2015 (June 2015)

 

The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) awarded pioneering Project NOAH component ClimateX at the PCIEERD Outstanding R&D Awards 2015. The competition was open to all Filipino scientists, researchers, and engineers from universities and colleges, R&D institutions, and private industries doing R&D work in the categories of 1) Industrial Technology, 2) Energy, Utilities, & Systems, 3) Emerging Technology, and 4) Special Concerns. Last June 30, ClimateX project leader Dr. Carlos Primo David and research assistants Irene Crisologo and Bernard Alan Racoma received recognition for winning the award in the Special Concerns Category, which consisted of projects that dealt with Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and the Environment. Along with the recognition and a trophy, the winning teams in each category received a cash prize amounting to PhP 500,000.

 

ClimateX is a fully automated rainfall prediction system used by Project NOAH, the RainCheck PH app, GMA Network’s IMReady, and WSA mobile app finalist ARKO. The system made it possible to make automated information meaningful out of RADAR data. It downloads data from the PAGASA Doppler RADAR stations, detects reflectivity of water droplets, computes for the rainfall amount, and translates the data into a series of cloud movement images. Locations for rain in the next four hours are then derived from these cloud movement images.

Although initial research has concluded, ClimateX is still an ongoing system, predicting rainfall with an 83% accuracy rate. According to the researchers, it was created to enhance forecasters’ real time weather forecasting capabilities. Because it is fully automated, it has the capability to automatically send alerts through its AutoTweet system and even text messages to its subscribers.