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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 18038242" data-attributes="member: 218596">Lankan scientists have developed mobile weather stations capable of capturing  and transmitting near real-time rainfall data.  Equipped  with atomic clocks for precise time and date readings the devices  log  on to global positioning satellites (GPS) automatically. The devices are   based on open-source technology and rely on local materials — at USD  250, they  are far cheaper than standard, WHO-certified versions that  can cost upwards of  USD 10,000, a report published by the scidev.net  said yesterday.  Sri Lanka has high rainfall variability over  short distances which make  accurate predictions difficult, says Yann  Chemin, designer of the device and  scientist with the International  Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo.  The stations are  powered by a single solar panel and there are already three  of them  active in the north of the country. IWMI will produce 10 more in   partnership with the Lanka Rain Water Harvesting Forum, says Tanuja  Ariyananda,  the forum’s director.  The devices will give  farmers the reliable, up-to-date data they need to  adapt to  unpredictable weather, improve rainwater harvesting — a source of clean   water in the country’s dry zone — or alert the authorities to drain out   reservoirs in anticipation of heavy rains.  Floods caused  by excessive rain are a serious natural hazard in Sri Lanka.  Between  2004 and 2014 over 500 lives were lost and nine million people affected   by rising waters.  P.K.S Mahanama, professor of town and  country planning at the faculty of  architecture, University of  Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, says that the devices could  work to sensitise  farmers to climate change and the need for adaptation.  Ariyananda  and Mahanama call for the devices to be installed in schools to  raise  awareness among students as well as prepare the buildings to double up  as  emergency shelters.   Chemin hopes to connect the devices  to Sri Lanka’s mobile phone networks,  allowing for mobile text alerts  to be sent directly to farmers and government  officials. "What is  essential is to create a ‘community of learning’ through  making the  designs open-source," Chemin said.</blockquote>

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