Diwata – 1 to Monitor Extreme Weather

Diwata - 1 Microsattelite

Diwata – 1, the first Filipino micro-satellite will be tasked to gather and monitor information about extreme weather phenomena in the Philippines. 

Among its myriad functions such as agricultural, military and terrain mapping features, Diwata – 1 will also be used together with other weather monitoring sensors to develop a lightning detection and extreme weather monitoring system in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

This is being undertaken by a team of Japanese and Filipino scientists. The Extreme Weather Monitoring and Information Sharing System project was given a grant amounting to Y500 million. This will be undertaken under a 5 year program between Deaprtment of Science and Technology (DOST) Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) , the Japan Science and Technology under Science and Technology Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).   

The project aims to develop a next generation extreme weather monitoring system in the Philippines, the first of its kind. It will enhance the Philippines’ disaster resiliency. 

Lessons learned during Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Yolanda spurred the development of such a system.

“JICA welcomes this partnership of Filipino and Japanese scientists to enhance disaster information sharing and research,” said JICA senior representative Ayumu Ohshima. 

A lightning detection network will be established using DIwata – 1. Scientists from Japan’s Hokkaido University, ASTI, Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman will be part of the project.  

“This lightning detection network will be the first that can estimate both location and energy of lightning in the Philippines and could be a model for other Asian countries to help predict intensity of severe weather events and mitigate damage,” said professor Mitsuteru Sato of the Faculty of Science in Hokkaido University. 

Lightning is a part of extreme weather conditions and as such together with torrential rainfall all of which must be monitored and are signifiers of severe weather conditions. Monitoring will forecast and mitigate the effects of such weather phenomena.

Diwata - 1 has been the subject of coverage by RESCUE.COM.PH's sister publication TechBlade since its development, launch and deployment in 2016.