דוקטורנטים מספרים - Shai Katz

Improving Weather Forecasts Using Smartphone Micro-Sensors

Shai Katz

Supervisors: Prof. Colin Price and Prof. Dorita Rostkier-Edelstein

Hi! I'm Shai Katz, and I am a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Colin Price and Prof. Dorita Rostkier-Edelstein in Atmospheric Sciences. I work at the Forecasting Center in the Israel Meteorological Service (IMS), and through my work I have realized that the future in Atmospheric Sciences is improving the model forecasts, by which we may have better forecasting, which could prevent destruction of infrastructures and loss of lives. The major key to improving these model forecasts is by using high spatial and temporal resolution data in space and time.

Through the years, the number of meteorological stations and observations has consistently risen and the world has become more nested with available data for weather forecasting and scientific purposes. Nonetheless, the prediction of severe weather is still incomplete, the resolution is insufficient, and the effects are visible in widespread destruction, especially in densely populated urban areas where extreme weather is so deadly. To overcome this, we decided to adopt a new approach to use meteorological data obtained from the micro-sensors smartphone. This year, it is expected that the number of smartphones will be more than 6 billion around the globe, each one with a suite of sensitive micro-sensors that can be cleverly used to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution meteorological data. The largest growth will be seen in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

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