Dubai: Dubai Municipality is developing a mobile application that would enable users to know about an approaching sandstorm 48 hours in advance, a senior Dubai Municipality official told XPRESS.
The application, planned to be launched by end of the year, follows the launch of the UAE’s first Sandstorm Forecasting system by the civic body.
The forecast will help residents pre-plan their outings, protect allergy and asthma sufferers from potential health risks, and also warn motorists about visibility conditions on the roads.
“As of now people can visit our website and get information about sandstorms, but by the end of this year, we will launch a mobile application for iOS and Android users,” said Mohammad Mahmoud Mashroom, Director of Survey Department, Dubai Municipality.
Dubai is the first emirate to use this system which will gather information from its Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) as well as the World Meteorological Organisation.
“Through the AWS, the information will go to an etisalat tower from where it will be relayed to our servers at Dubai Municipality,” explained Sachin Chauhan, Project Coordinator with the Survey Department.
“We will also get information from across the Middle East, which will help us make highly accurate predictions.
“Currently we are able to get information about 24 hours in advance, and with time, the system will get more fine tuned and be able to generate forecasts 48 hours in advance,” he added.
The Dubai Municipality will send its forecast to Dubai Police, Coast Guards and RTA which will help them utilise the information to a plan strategies in advance and enchance safety.
“Once the app is launched, registered users will be able to receive SMS alerts from the Dubai Muncipality,” said Chauhan. The new app is an extension of a system which was launched three years ago. It has several components that provide real time monitoring, alerts, warnings and dissemination of information to concerned departments,” said Mashroom.
A state-of-the-art 3D weather prediction model has been incorporated in the system. “The dust storm system will present real time satellite images because they can display storms quite accurately,” said Eman Ahmad Al Khatibi Al Falasi Head of Geodesy and Hydrographic Survey Section.
The Municipality has installed five coastal stations to predict fog and sandstorms. In the future, the system could also be used to predict rain.
Sandstorm prediction
For more info visit: www.dubaiweather.dm.ae
