ILOILO City – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched its first ground receiving station (GRS) in the Visayas and the third in the whole country in Dumangas, Iloilo yesterday.
The first two GRS are in Quezon City and Davao del Sur province.
The Iloilo GRS is a crucial component in the communication network as it can gather data and images from satellites orbiting the Earth, according to DOST undersecretary Leah Buendia, who represented DOST secretary Renato Solidum during the launching.
“With the station’s advanced technology, we can receive and process large amount of data close to real-time, allowing us to monitor the Earth’s environment, weather patterns, and other important phenomena. We can use this information to make informed decisions that will positively impact our environment, from predicting weather patterns and events, monitoring changes in land use to even security, defense, and safety,” said Buendia.
The GRS, situated within the vicinity of Climate Field School in Dumangas, was established through the Understanding Lightning and Thunderstorms for Extreme Weather Monitoring and Information Sharing Project (ULAT Project) and funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with the Hokkaido University in Japan.
To complement the GRS, the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT U) with the support of the DOST-6, Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and the local government of Dumangas established the Knowledge Center for Weather, Atmospherical, Astronomical and Geophysical Observations (KWAAGO).
The facility is equipped with a 3.5-meter Earth Observation satellite tracking antenna that will allow wider coverage of data captured from Diwata 1 and 2 and other satellite systems. The facility will support project ULAT’s aim to improve short-term weather forecasts in the country by understanding weather patterns through rainfall and lighting occurrences.
The station became fully operational on August 1, 2022 by marking its first successful communication with Diwata 2 microsatellite.
Solidum, in his video message, underlined the facility will directly impact and substantially aid in the disaster risk reduction in management efforts especially when faced with extreme weather events especially typhoons.
He said data from the Iloilo GRS can be used to complement data from lightning detection stations nationwide to monitor the typhoon as it passes through the country.
Moreover, Solidum is hopeful through this project, the DOST would inspire future generations of scientists and engineers and will spark the interest of the youth to take on a path on sciences to secure the future of the country.
For his part, Sakamoto Takema, chief representative of JICA-Philippines, said the project is a testament of good partnerships and a reflection of bayanihan between the Philippines and Japan in the bid to improve risk reduction management and promote resilience.
DOST Regional Director Rowen Gelonga, in his message during the program, said the facility can address a lot of socio-economic requirements of the country as a whole and not only of the municipality of Dumangas.
“Suffice to say that this is a very, very important facility for us. Space science and technology has a lot of application. This was primarily intended to address and to beef up our capability to handle disasters,” Gelonga said. (With reports from Philippine News Agency)/PN
