No, it’s not just an idea. It’s been proven through field testing that cellular towers can be used to help predict flash floods with enough early-warning leeway to give flood-plain dwellers a chance to get our of harm’s way. Thanks to the research of Prof. Pinhas Alpert, a geophysicist and head of the Porter School for Environmental Education at Tel Aviv University, cellular signals at various mobile phone towers can be analyzed to give weather forecasters the data they need to more accurately predict floods.
Prof. Pinhas Alpert and co-researcher Prof. Hagit Messer Yaron developed their patented model for analyzing cell-signals for interference brought on by moisture in the air. “By monitoring the specific and fluctuating atmospheric moisture around cell phone towers throughout America, we can cheaply, effectively, and reliably provide a more accurate ‘critical moisture distribution’ level for fine-tuning model predictions of big floods,” says Alper.
The method reportedly works and could easily be incorporated into existing cell-tower networks in highly developed wireless markets like the US. The researchers at Tel Aviv University say that this system for predicting floods could have served as an early-warning system for Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans. It should be interesting to see how this technology rolls out around the world.
[Via: CN]