Phone towers could measure rain where gauges are few

Heavy rain in Namibia (Credit: NASA)

SciDev.Net reported a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that found mobile phone towers in Africa could be used to help provide rainfall data.

A lack of rain gauges in Africa hinders early warning systems that could save lives and reduce the cost of flooding. Accurate precipitation measurements are also critical for water resource management, agriculture, weather prediction and climate research.

Rainfall data can be measured by mobile phone towers by analyzing signal loss caused by storms.

Image: Heavy rain in Namibia (Credit: NASA)