People in the industrialized world reap the benefits of a well-connected and seamlessly functioning network of weather stations. Instant accessibility to real-time weather information guides society’s day-to-day decision making – from what clothes to wear, how to get to and from destinations, to what crops to plant. It’s difficult to imagine a world where a weekend weather forecast is not simply a mouse click away.
In many parts of the developing world, however, a severe lack of local weather information is a major setback for farmers, extension officers and policy makers in their decision making process. In many regions, weather networks are limited, non-functional, or non-existent.
Imminent changes in weather patterns are increasing the need for accurate, localized and accessible weather information for sustainable approaches to land management and food security in the developing world. The incorporation of weather data into project planning enhances the ability of practitioners to make evidenced based decisions and offers strategic insight for farmers and extension workers.
aWhere’s Weather Tool
aWhere, Inc. is working to resolve this problem. Our team has developed an interactive, online tool offering free access to weather information for Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, and South Asia. aWhere’s weather data is created by interpolating weather information from meteorological stations and orbiting satellites to create quality data available in 9km grid cells – akin to having a full meteorological station every 9km. Weather data is available for key variables including precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and growing degree days.
The Platform has a growing suite of tools to analyze and visualize weather data.
– Visualize weather data for a user-selected seasonal period
– Compare historical data against current trends
– Download all available data into excel for further analysis
– Receive weather reports for any location of interest, including an 8 day weather forecast
– Enable weather alerts and receive notifications via email of a user-selected weather threshold is crossed
Visit aWhere’s Weather Details Page to register or to learn more about the Platform.
Contact us at weather@awhere.com to learn more about aWhere’s Open Platform for Global Development.
Original post by Lizzy Leighty.
