News and Features
Rainfall monitoring workshop prepares high school teachers for Project Rain Gauge
[August 28, 2007/ Manila] - Science and Math teachers from 17 partner schools under the Smart Schools Program recently attended a workshop on Rainfall Monitoring as part of their participation in Project Rain Gauge, a joint undertaking of Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) and Manila Observatory’s KLIMA Climate Change Center, in cooperation with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and the Department of Education.
Held at the Manila Observatory inside the Ateneo De Manila University campus, the workshop consisted of exercises on rain gauge reading and data collection and recording. Resource persons from the Manila Observatory, KLIMA and PAGASA shared their expertise on various related topics which included climate change, rainfall monitoring uses and methods, climate modeling and forecasting, rain gauge monitoring protocol, importance of local weather monitoring, and disaster risk management.
The public high schools represented at the workshop, most of which are situated in hazard-prone areas and provinces, make up the project test group that will assist in monitoring the amount of rainfall in their respective localities. They will be expected to maintain a rain gauge that Smart will provide within their respective school grounds.
Project Rain Gauge aims to create a network of ground stations across the country via Smart Schools to provide supplementary data on local rainfall measurement in specific areas. Rainfall observations performed and recorded by the schools can be used to determine fine-scale rainfall patterns necessary to describe local climate, and for more accurate weather reporting and forecasting in local communities. @
