PAGASA advisories via Smart SMS

MANILA, Philippines - “As of 5 am, 15 July 2010, Tropical Storm “Basyang” moves farther away from the country. Center estimated at 400 km west northwest of Dagupan City with maximum sustained winds of 85 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph. Forecast to move northwest of Laoag City by tomorrow morning. P1.00/msg.”

This text message from DOST-PAGASA is in reply to the SMS inquiry “BAGYO INFO ADVISORY” sent to 7008526 on the said date. One peso is the cost per message received.

For over a year now, a growing number of subscribers have been receiving and downloading weather updates on their mobile phones via the PAGASA Infoboard, a supplementary information dissemination system of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. 

Some 1,009 subscribers have registered for the service since its launch in November 2008.

This service is especially useful now that the rainy season is upon us and with the probability of La Niña happening by the third quarter. It keeps subscribers posted on weather advisories — specifically on tropical cyclone warnings and flood bulletins.

Infoboard is a Web-based group broadcast service of Smart Communications Inc. which offers various SMS facilities with different functions and capabilities catering to the needs of a certain organization or community.

For the PAGASA Infoboard, Smart tailored its service to the weather agency’s public service requirements, that is, to disseminate vital information and at the same time enable the public to initiate messaging by downloading the information with the use of their mobile phones anytime, anywhere.

To get regular updates, Smart and Talk ‘N Text subscribers have to register. For rain updates, text ULAN REG NAME/ADDRESS/AGE to 717 (ULAN) or 717 (8526). To subscribe, text ULAN PUSH ON to 717 (ULAN) or 717 (8526). To unsubscribe, text ULAN PUSH OFF to the same assigned numbers. 

For subscriber-initiated messaging, the keywords to text for downloading information are: BAHA INFO ADVISORY, for flood updates; BAGYO INFO ADVISORY/ULAN INFO ULAN, for weather; KLIMA INFO KLIMA, for climate; ASTRO INFO ADVISORY, for astronomy updates; and GENERAL INFO PAGASA, general information. Text the key words to 7008526.

“Each division in PAGASA has a point person who uploads information into the server,” says Dr. Susan Espinueva, chief of the Hydro Metrological Division. She adds that the agency sends out up to four updates in a day when necessary, like when there’s flood. To date, it has sent 1,038 textcasts via the Infoboard service. The total number of pulled messages is 18,304.

“We used to send information via SMS to local government units and the National Disaster Coordinating Council. This proved to be costly and cumbersome. So we prioritized the recipients. Composing the message so it would fit in just 361 characters was also a challenge,” Espinueva adds.

Besides a limited scope, the previous system also could not provide the public direct access to the information.

“PAGASA Infoboard is useful and convenient especially in areas or in situations where people have no access to TV or radio. All you need is your cellphone,” says Espinueva.

“Each division in PAGASA has a point person who uploads information into the server,” explains Espinueva.

The Weather Division is in charge of shipping forecasts, tropical cyclone warnings, and updates on volcano behaviors such as when there was a disturbance in Mayon and Pinatubo.

The Climatology and Agrometeorological Division provides El Niño and La Niña advisories, as well as long-term forecasts on a monthly basis or a three-month outlook for the benefit of agricultural planners.

Flood advisories and hydrological forecasts come from the Hydrometeorological Division, while occurrences of meteor showers and eclipses are given out by the Astronomy Division. The Public Information Division handles general information about the weather bureau. 

In the development stage is a menu that can be downloaded into the mobile phones of Smart and Talk ‘N Text subscribers who registered for the PAGASA Infoboard. This will make it even more convenient for them to simply pull the information needed instead of the existing process where they have to type the keywords.

She also hopes that there will come a time when people themselves will “pull” the information they need instead of waiting for updates from PAGASA. After all, the information is already made available to them via the PAGASA Infoboard.