Individual Project - Project NOAH

Joben Ryan A. Padre

2013-42972 / BS Civil Engineering

Individual Project in STS / THY

PROJECT NOAH

The Philippines has the capacity to foster digital humanitarianism during times of calamities and this is why we should utilize both social media and telecommunications to help aid during disasters.

            A concrete example of a program with this objective is the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, otherwise known as Project NOAH, which is spearheaded by DOST in partnership with PAGASA, PHIVOLCS, and UP NIGS (The Official Gazette).

            NOAH is a software which was conceptualized by Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay and the project’s main office is located at the NIGS of UP Diliman, Quezon City. It is made up of different components that specialize on various disasters that could possibly strike the country.

            The application, which is both available on computers and smart phones, presents data collected from various automated detectors in different areas in the country. These detectors instantly send their findings every ten minutes to the headquarters via telecommunications and these data are then classified and interpreted by the Project NOAH staff (Mr. Leo Jao, Interview).

            One of the parts of Project NOAH is its landslide mapping feature which identifies how much earth is going to crumble at a specific time and place.

            Another component was the storm surge inundation mapping which points out the places lying on the seashore which are prone to waves reaching three to five meters due to low pressure areas forming in the ocean. This specific tool of the app gives an estimate on how high the current would become, hence warning the residents, especially fishermen, living near these affected areas (Google Apps Play Store).

            The application also includes the recently launched DREAM project spearheaded by UP Diliman which is a state of the art light detection and ranging device that uses lasers in producing an aerial view of the country with excellent resolution (Mateo). The device is so powerful that Project NOAH can use this component in assessing various calamities (Valencia).

            Next is the “floodnet”, a forecast of floods in various places. These are predicted through Doppler data, an instrument of PAGASA used in analyzing how much rain a certain cloud can pour. There are also sensors found in mountains and rivers in high places in that measures the stream current in order to estimate how much water would go to the lowlands (The Official Gazette).

Project NOAH’s positive effects are already being experienced by our countrymen, and the results are astonishing. For example, in the recent onslaught of the southwest monsoon, Marikina was again on the brink of being in a state of calamity. However, Dr. Lagmay informed the city officials of Marikina beforehand regarding how much water was on its way from the highlands. Officials quickly took action and warned their constituents. Despite the large volume of flood that struck the city, no deaths were tallied (S&T Media Service).

            The Project NOAH application also curtails a feed from the Twitter account of PAGASA. This stream of updates are also well devised, since the tweets use hashtags in order for them to be classified well according to the place concerned (Jao).

            We are now experiencing the fruits of using social media and mobile phones in disaster preparedness, awareness, and response and the best is yet to come if we continue to maximize our technological resources for the alleviation of the damages done by these disasters.

REFERENCE LIST

Jao, Leo, 2013. Personal Interview. 6 Sept. 2013.

Mateo, Janvic, 2013. “UP leases plane for NOAH project with DOST.” The Philippine Star, 26 May 2013. http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/05/26/946393/leases-plane-noah-project-dost/. 9 Aug. 2013.

“Project NOAH.” Google Apps Play Store, 27 July 2013. http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ph.gov.dost.noah.android&hl=en/. 9 Sept. 2013.

“Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazzards)." The Official Gazette, n.d. http://www.gov.ph/about-project-noah/. 22 Aug. 2013.

S&T Media Service, 2013. “Marikina leaders laud Project Noah, Pagasa for city’s zero casualty during ‘Maring’.” Business Mirror, 24 Aug. 2013. http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/features/green/18370-marikina-leaders-laud-project-noah-pagasa-for-city-s-zero-casualty-during-maring/. 9 Sept. 2013.

Valencia, George Robert III, 2013. “DOST’s Dream project takes off.” Department of Science and Technology, 27 Nov. 2012. http://www.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&id=1194:dosts-dream-project-takes-off-&catid=1:latest&Itemid=1509 Aug. 2013.