Science office tests landslide monitoring system

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in partnership with the University of the Philippines–Diliman Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, is currently field-testing a monitoring system in some landslide-prone areas in Benguet.

Nancy Bantog, DOST-Cordillera assistant regional director for Field Operations Services, said the field-testing is in line with the recently launched Project Noah or Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, which is in response to President Benigno Aquino III’s call for the DOST, as vice chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) Prevention and Mitigation Committee, to come up with a more accurate, reliable and responsive weather forecasting and hazard mitigation.

The landslide monitoring system, which was developed by a team of engineers and researchers from UP-Diliman EEEI, aims to accurately and cost-effectively monitor slopes through series of sensors that measure soil moisture and slope movements. This is part of the Landslide Sensors Development Project component of Project Noah.

President Aquino reported in his third State of the Nation Address that in line with Project Noah, it is the government’s goal to put up 600 automatic rain gauges (ARGs) and 422 water level monitoring sensors (WLMS) in strategic areas all over the country by 2013. At present, 86 ARGs and 28 WLMS are already in place, he said.

For Cordillera, Bantog said ARGs and manual rain gauges are already in place in each of the provinces in the region, and in Baguio City. The DOST also installed two automated Weather Stations (AWS) in Bontoc, Mountain Province and in Bangued, Abra.

She also reported they have requested 13 units of WLMS to be installed in strategic areas along the major river systems in Cordillera.

“Aside from mitigating the hazards pertaining to weather, the ultimate goal is to have six-hour lead time warning, especially to communities affected by the major river systems,” Bantog said.

Project Noah is also being tied-up to the various state universities and colleges for the development of relevant research and studies. (Carlito C. Dar)