Researchers noted that smartphones can be harnessed to forecast flash floods as well as other natural disasters.
With smartphones capable of measuring atmospheric pressure, temperatures and humidity, a novel study suggested that the devices may one day be able to track and anticipate weather patterns that lead to flash floods.
“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.
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In the study, published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, the team placed four smartphones under controlled conditions and analyzed the data to detect phenomena such as “atmospheric tides,” which are similar to ocean tides.
They also analyzed data from a UK-based app called WeatherSignal.
While the smartphones could provide real-time weather alerts through a feedback loop, the public was able to find atmospheric data on the “cloud” via an application.
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