Calling Off Disaster
Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Popular Science" names TAU cellphone/flood technology "Invention of the Year"

Popular Science has bestowed their 2009 "Invention of the Year" award in the field of safety to new Tel Aviv University research into flood forecasting, Haaretz reports in this story. The magazine will publish a full feature on the research in next month's issue.

Prof. Pinhas Alpert, a geophysicist and head of TAU's Porter School for Environmental Studies, and his co-researchers Prof. Hagit Messer Yaron and doctoral fellow Noam David developed a way to predict the intensity of major floods. Their model, which analyzes cell phone signals, adds a component to weather forecasting never before available.

"By monitoring the specific and fluctuating atmospheric moisture around cell phone towers throughout America, we can cheaply, effectively and reliably provide a more accurate 'critical moisture distribution' level for fine-tuning model predictions of big floods," says Prof. Alpert.

Read more about this creative and potentially life-saving technology.

The university has a tradition of creative leadership in science. In 2008, Scientific American named researchers Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob, Dr. Itay Baruchi, and Dr. Beka Solomon among the world's top innovators.

AFTAU welcomes your support of breakthroughs in environmental science at Tel Aviv University. To make a donation, click here.