The Importance of Domestic Marine Forecasting Service

To reduce vulnerability of sea mishaps, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) requests to establish a domestic marine forecasting service.

Weather, Climate and Climate Change

• Weather refers to everyday temperature, wind, and precipitation.
• Weather pattern such as summer, spring, autumn, or winter or the weather pattern in the Philippines that is categorized as dry or wet is called climate.
• The change in climate over a period of time: it may be due to natural causes or human activities or both are called climate change.

Weather Satellite for Weather Analysis

The National Oceanic and Atomic Administration Satellite System (NOAA) consist of satellites in Polar Orbit at 833 km and 870 km. above the earth surface.

• Each satellite transmits data from circular area of the earth surface with diameter 2,800 km.
• In both satellites one of the sensors is the Advance Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which is sensitive to visible near infrared and infrared radiation. This instrument is used for measuring cloud distribution and for determining temperature of radiating surface (clouds or surface).

The TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder System is another kind of sensor that is used to calculate the temperature profiles from the surface to 10 mb. water vapor content at 3 levels of the atmosphere and total ozone content.

The (PAGASA) have both the Geo-Stationary Meteorological Satellite –AVRR, the NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellite ground receiving facilities. And it has still to install the Doppler weather radar system.

The Doppler Weather Radar System

• Can provide accurate rainfall estimate for floor forecasting and warning as well as for water management, agriculture and other purposes.
• Will enable PAGASA to issue early warnings on the occurrence of wind (Microburst) cloud formation, tornado for the safety and efficiency of aviation operations.
• Provides excellent spatial and real-time coverage of rain areas, quantitative data and information for a wide range of operational services.
• Provides accurate information to aviation, maritime and shipping, agriculture, health, defense, public weather service and environmental monitoring sectors.

Case in Point

In June 2008, Typhoon Fengshen, known also as Typhoon Frank, made landfall in the eastern Philippines with top sustained winds of 110 mph pushing the 23,824-tonne Princess Of Star off course resulting in a grounding as the ship floating helplessly at sea. Princess of Star capsized with over 800+ aboard in Romblon province. Although the courts favor the MARINA, PAGASA and the Coastguard: the captain of the ship was blamed for human error.

Not only was this the precedence of the argument that PAGASA has no sufficient equipment to detect accurate weather forecast. The aviation industry should also channel its final clearance for take off on of its aircraft.

The Long Term Plan

Since one of the major clients of the PAGASA is the shipping industry, the agency will establish a Domestic Marine Forecasting Service to minimize human casualties and damage to properties due to sea disasters.

Another important aspect that needs to be in place is the expansion of coverage areas whose climate forecasts are applied especially in the fields of agriculture and water resources.

Satellite data coming from both the orbital and Geo-Stationary satellites are used for monitoring the development of severe weather systems, locating tropical cyclone centers, determining the cyclones present, intensity or future movement and weather forecasting.