A pioneering initiative is underway in the River Severn catchment area, a region historically susceptible to significant flooding, which sees telecommunications giant Vodafone leveraging its mobile network in an innovative way to improve near-term rain forecasting. This collaborative project, involving the River Severn Partnership – a consortium of eight local authorities – and technology firm Wireless DNA, aims to provide more accurate and localised short-term weather predictions, known as ‘nowcasting’, to bolster the area’s resilience against flooding.
The River Severn region, spanning 6,000 square miles across England and Wales and home to 2.6 million people, has a long and challenging history with flooding. The winter of 2019/20 serves as a stark reminder, with record-high river levels and major flood incidents occurring across Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire, impacting approximately 1,600 properties. Vodafone estimates that around £230 million is spent annually in the area to manage and mitigate the damage inflicted by these recurring flood events, highlighting the significant economic and social burden they impose.
The ‘nowcasting’ trial seeks to provide rain forecasts with a timeframe ranging from a few minutes to a few hours ahead, offering a crucial window for proactive measures. The underlying technology harnesses the sensitivity of electromagnetic waves at certain frequencies to precipitation. Water present in the atmosphere affects the quality of the wireless link between mobile phone masts. By meticulously monitoring signal variations across its extensive network, Wireless DNA will be able to identify fluctuations specifically caused by rainfall. This highly localised and precise precipitation data will then be shared with the River Severn Partnership to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of existing early warning systems for flooding and to inform the development of more effective flood defences for local residents and businesses.
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This innovative use of Vodafone’s mobile network essentially transforms it into a vast environmental sensor, providing a dense layer of ground-level observations that can supplement traditional weather forecasting methods such as radar and rain gauges. The granular detail offered by this network-based sensing has the potential to provide greater accuracy than broader radar sweeps and more localised insights than sparsely distributed weather stations, ultimately leading to more reliable and actionable short-term rain forecasts.
Nick Gliddon, Director of Vodafone Business UK, underscored the urgency and potential of the project, stating, “Storms and extreme weather are becoming more frequent and destructive. Working with the River Severn Partnership, we can use our cutting-edge technology to provide greater insight on weather forecasting and help mitigate the impact of extreme events.”
Matt Smith, the project manager, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the direct benefits for the community: “By improving weather forecasting, we can better mitigate against flooding and protect the health and livelihoods of the communities and businesses in our region.” This trial represents a significant step towards integrating readily available technological infrastructure into sophisticated environmental monitoring systems, offering a promising avenue for enhancing flood resilience in vulnerable regions.
[Main image - flooding in Tewkesbury, England - January 7th 2024. Credit: Heather Gunn / shutterstock.com]