The FMI is considering how its own weather radar and lightning data locators could be complemented by people's observations to create a better snapshot of storm behaviour. Reports from members of the public could be sent directly to the FMI.
FMI researcher Pekka Rossi says that there is a clear need for citizens’ observations.
“These public observations could be used to glean a lot of extra information such as how and where strong storms are and whether there has been actual damage,” says Rossi.
The Android-based application for stormspotting is already in its testing phase. VTT’s environmental information systems team leader Ville Kotovirta explains that the application will be developed and refined on the basis of testers' feedback. He estimates that the app will be available to the general public by next summer.
Finland trailing rest of the world
Rossi claims that the rest of the world is quite far ahead of the Finns in terms of the social sharing of meteorological observations. There are many reasons for this, he believes.
“One reason is that these are new products. They should be studied, developed and tested at length,” says Rossi. “And, of course, we have to hold on to existing services and to be able to deliver basic services well and faithfully.”
Additionally, in Rossi’s view, there is more demand for participatory social media services elsewhere – for example, in the United States – because storms there have significantly higher socio-economic impact than those in Finland.
Social stormspotting has lots of potential
Some people are already in the habit of sending their observations to the FMI.
“For a long time we’ve been using online forms, through which one can send information, for example, on lightning strikes on trees or hail,” says Rossi.
Social sharing applications for weather monitoring can also come from places other than the FMI. The FMI at present displays participatory weather observation data on its web pages, free for all to use.
The Institute says that the information can be used by anyone and will readily incorporate a user’s own input.
Jealously guarding one’s own weather data is not what the FMI is about, according to Rossi.
“It’s a great thing that it can be used to generate new services and potentially new businesses in Finland. In fact, it creates a lot of good,” Rossi says.