US tech helping developing world forecast the weather

World Today

It’s something many of us take for granted: timely and accurate weather forecasts. Those forecasts are a luxury for many developing countries, but new technology could change that.

It’s what the National Center for Atmospheric Research calls a 3-D weather station, a stack of gauges and instruments assembled to collect weather data in parts of the world where that information is sorely lacking. This is called the raspberry pi.

While high-end weather stations are expensive for countries to buy and maintain, these run just two to three hundred dollars a piece because of their off-the-shelf sensors and some 200 3-D printed parts which can easily be replaced if they fail.

That work will translate into 50 new stations for Zambia. Other countries could follow.

Additional weather data from the developing world is going to make global weather forecasting more accurate.

CCTV’s Hendrik Sybrandy reports from Colorado.