Abstract
The Philippines, located in the western Pacific region, ranked first on the list of global disaster hotpots out of 192 countries in the World Risk Index Report in 2022. The Philippines was also identified as one of the most vulnerable to disasters caused by extreme natural events that include storms and flooding. Digitalization and emerging technologies that enable advanced warning and create responsive systems are the tools to prepare affected communities for natural events. This project develops an advanced system that enhances community preparedness and aids decision-making during extreme weather conditions like heavy rainfall, gusty winds, flooding, and extreme heat. The system can sense several parameters that include wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, solar irradiance, ultraviolet rays’ intensity, and flood water level. The sensing components transmit the readings to an attached microprocessor board that translates and sends the data to the cloud for storage, processing, and analysis. The processed data are fed into a web application that is built to disseminate precise weather information to the community and to the authorities to help them make informed decisions during hazardous weather conditions. The project employs three-dimensional (3D) modeling and printing, and standardized testing of system components for prototyping. The operation of each component of the weather and hydrologic monitoring system was validated through comparison with calibrated weather parameter measuring devices. Results reveal that the developed system provides weather data with an accuracy of 98.54 % to 99.71 % against calibrated weather parameter measuring devices. The monitoring system is also designed to accommodate artificial intelligence to enable precise localized weather forecasting.
