New York: The present technology in smartphones can easily detect and measure atmospheric pressure, humidity, and temperatures, and according to a recent study, the devices may very soon one day be able to rack and anticipate weather patterns that converge into flash floods.
As per the research, the members of the team noted that smartphones can be harnessed to forecast flash floods and also natural disasters.
“The sensors in our smartphones are constantly monitoring our environment including gravity, the earth’s magnetic field, atmospheric pressure, light levels, humidity, temperatures, sound levels and more,” said lead researcher Colin Price, Professor at the Tel Aviv University.
“Vital atmospheric data exists today on some 3 to 4 billion smartphones worldwide. This data can improve our ability to accurately forecast the weather and other natural disasters that are taking so many lives every year,” he added.
The study was published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, in which the team placed four smartphones under conditions that were kept in control and then analyzed the data to make it from the phenomena such as “atmospheric tides”, which are very much similar to ocean tides.
Along with that, they also analyzed data from an app, called as “WeatherSignal” from the UK.
The public was able to find out atmospheric data on the “cloud” using the application, as the smartphones can be used in real time to get weather alerts through a feedback loop.
The data gained, can then be processed into real-time forecasts and then, at last, be returned to the users with a forecast or a warning to those people who are located in danger zones, the researchers said.
“We can’t prevent flash floods from happening, but soon we may be able to use the public’s smartphone data to generate better forecasts and give these forecasts back to the public in real time via their phones,”Mr.Price noted.
Time and again, mobiles phones have stood for many tests to prove that they are a crucial role player in today’s era of internet technologies which include Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things too. Engineers and scientists are working around the globe to develop many such gadgets and apps that may simply our life on earth without getting troubled by natural and man-made disasters such as floods, fires and many more of that kind. The day is not far when we will have more sophisticated and well-equipped devices in hand.
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