The Potential Role of Cellular Towers as an Extension of Climate Monitoring in South Africa

Abstract

The conventional ground-based climate monitoring network in South Africa is declining, and thus alternative monitoring approaches are required. This working paper reports on the work done elsewhere in the world to use cellular towers to monitor climate, and to explore the potential of using the existing cellular towers in South Africa to extend climate monitoring. Pilot studies conducted in Europe confirmed that meteorological stations that are mounted on cellular towers can provide data with the accuracy comparable to that of conventional ground-based weather stations, and approaches to extract this information have been developed. 1. Background South Africa is a semi-arid country whose water resources are limited due to a low mean annual precipitation (MAP) of approximately 460 mm which is unevenly distributed in space and time. For decades the country has been experiencing pressure on its limited water resources due to the growing population and the impacts of climate change.

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