Social Media and IoT – Opportunities for NMHSs to connect with users Kuldeep Srivastava and S. L. Singh Information System and Services Division (ISSD) India Meteorological Department Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003, India

Social Media We may define social media as: Web technology that allows people with common interests to share ideas Communities of people having conversations online

Social Media Services Social media services like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube etc. have emerged as very useful tool for enhancing the delivery of information and other services to the users effectively and immediately if they are connected to the Internet.

Social Media and People Social Media are among the main driving forces behind the continued increase in Internet usage in recent years. The number of people online are increasing day by day. Mobile telephone coverage is expected to reach close to 100 per cent of the global population within next few years.

Social media in weather forecasting Although the information dissemination through Internet and mobile using email and short message service (SMS) has existed since long, the social media has changed the information need of public. To have pace with the demanding need of the society, the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook allow the forecasters to reach the public in time and much more frequently.

Exchange of Data and Dissemination of Forecast, Nowcast & Warnings in IMD Telephone/ Fax IVRS (Toll free number 18001801717) SMS using “Mobile Sewa” of DEITY for bulk SMS and quick SMS facility of NIC Email through NIC Websites (www.imd.gov.in, www.indiaweather.gov.in and www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in) Social media (Twitter - https://twitter.com/Indiametdept & Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/India.Meteorological.Department/)

Information on IMD Twitter & Facebook pages Earthquake report Air quality for the day and forecast for next day Highlights of weather bulletins (Text, Graphic, Video) Weather and weather warnings for next five days. Nowcast Satellite and Radar images during significant weather events Tracks of cyclonic disturbances Cyclone bulletins Monsoon activities

IMD products on Twitter

IMD products on Facebook

Analytics for IMD Twitter page

Analytics for IMD Twitter page

Analytics for IMD Facebook page

Analytics for IMD Facebook page

Benefits of Social Media The social media is definitely a very good tool to use for two way communication with public. It can be used to provide weather information to the general public as well as to receive observations, photos and videos of significant weather from them for verification of forecast as well capturing rare moments of any severe weather event. The social media sites supplement the information available on websites of the NMHS. NMHSs may use the feedback received to improve their services, visibility and reputation.

Challenges with Social Media There are many concerns about the use of social media for collection of weather observations: Authenticity May create hoaxes during severe weather events Data ownership Legal issues Selection of information to be put on these sites is very crucial and require attention. WMO has already issued “Guidelines on the Strategies for use of Social Media by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services” vide WMO-No. 1086.

Internet of Things (IoT) IoT is the internetworking of smart objects. These objects may include electronic devices fitted on vehicles or in the buildings etc. and network connectivity for communicating with each other across a global network. The devices have sensors to collect the data, electronics to process the data, software to present the data and actuators for controlling end system using the data.

Internet of Things (IoT) IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure to improve the efficiency, accuracy and economic benefits of the system.

IoT in weather forecasting The use of IoT in weather forecasting may facilitate the traditional method of weather forecasting to attain higher accuracy and flexibility. It can accelerate the economic growth of any country because weather forecasting has its direct as well as indirect effect on different sectors of economy like agriculture, energy, transport and other business.

IoT in weather forecasting IoT enabled weather systems may be designed to collect data using different sensors from Automatic observing systems vehicles on the roads, mobile phones, buildings, agriculture fields and industries etc.

IoT in weather forecasting The data may include weather parameters (like air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, visibility etc.), weather condition (such as rain, thunderstorm, lightning, fog etc.) and other data (e.g. road condition, movement of vehicles, water level in the agriculture field, soil temperature, soil moisture, leaf wetness, air pollution etc.).

IoT in weather forecasting All the real time data may be transmitted wirelessly to pool in cloud and build more accurate forecast and provide flexible real time monitoring at different time horizon. The data can also be used to automate the irrigation and pest control mechanisms in the agriculture fields, monitor and control the road/ rail transport and industry etc.

IoT in weather forecasting Most of the NMHSs including IMD are already using Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), Agro-AWS, GPS RSRW and Automatic pollution monitoring etc. at various places for automatic data collection and transmission. The data is used for display to the public, automatic ingestion into models and forecasting workstations for analysis by the forecasters.

Challenges with IoT Utilization of weather data generated through IoT and coming from an increasingly diverse array of sources is very challenging. The quality of this data can vary depending on location and exposure conditions of sensors. There are no standards yet for optimizing sensor placement and exposure conditions in the vehicles.

Challenges with IoT Increasing amounts of sensor data also require capturing the physics correctly at finer resolutions as the feedback from urban environments, lakes, rivers, streams and many other conditions influence micro-climates. Although data collected through mobile phones or vehicle etc. are being used in other field like traffic management, space missions etc but weather forecasters aren't using these data at present due to a number of factors involved in it, but certainly in near future, IoT will make the way for the use of such data.

Conclusion Effective communication about severe weather requires: weather information providers to disseminate accurate & timely messages and The target recipients receive and react to these messages well in time. Social media together with the existing websites of NMHSs, daily radio and television broadcasts can be used to get wider outreach of weather information particularly during significant weather events to general public and disaster management and mitigation agencies /authorities timely. The assessment by the researchers suggests that social media data can be used to advance our understanding of the relationship between risk, communication, attention, and public reaction to severe weather phenomena.

Conclusion With the more and more use of IoT in the field of weather forecasting will definitely support NMHSs in timely delivery of an accurate and reliable weather forecast and warnings. This will not only significantly lower the risk of weather hazard but will also help various sectors of economy to deal with weather related risks/ disasters.

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