Equipment that helps in issuing natural disaster alerts is installed in Presidente Prudente

The Civil Defense of Presidente Prudente installed 4 automatic Cemaden rain gauges this Wednesday (11). The equipment helps prevent and issue warnings of natural disasters.

The devices were installed at 4 points in the city. They have a chip and long-lasting battery to transmit rainfall data in real time.

The information is updated online every 10 minutes on Cemaden's interactive map. Without rain, transmission only occurs once an hour.

Cemaden technicians will install these devices in another 30 cities in the State of São Paulo. Neighboring municipalities such as Dracena and Rinópolis will also receive the devices.

As a form of prevention after constant climate changes, four automatic rain gauges were installed in Presidente Prudente (SP). The equipment helps in issuing warnings of natural disasters.

According to the city hall, the equipment comes from the National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden) and is part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

They were installed this Wednesday (11), by the municipal Civil Defense, in four points of the city: in the Municipal Palace “Florivaldo Leal”, in Parque do Povo, in Balneário da Amizade and in Praça das Andorinhas.

The device consists of a chip and a long-lasting battery, which transmits rainfall volumes in real time. The data is public and can be monitored on an interactive Cemaden map.

Information regarding rainfall accumulations will be transmitted over the internet, with updates every ten minutes. If it is not raining, the device will only connect once an hour, sending the accumulated zero millimeters of the last 60 minutes.

In addition to Presidente Prudente, the Cemaden technical team, professionals from the state of Amazonas, will visit 30 other cities in São Paulo, where the devices will also be installed.

According to Cemaden, the rain gauge is an instrument used to collect and measure rainfall. The amount of water captured is shown in millimeters (mm). Rain of 1 mm per minute is equivalent to 1 liter of water per minute in an area of ​​1 square meter (m²).

For example, if the house has a 10 square meter roof and, after an hour of rain, the rain gauge reads 20 mm, this means that around 200 liters were dumped on the house in that one hour period.

Still according to Cemaden, there are many types of rain gauges, some simpler than others, but all with the purpose of measuring rain. The main types are:

Conventional: store the amount of rain. The measurement is taken and recorded manually.

Semi-automatic: measures and stores information about the amount of rain. The reading is done using a digital panel.

Automatic: automatically measures, stores and transmits information about the amount of rain.

The automatic model was the rain gauge installed in Presidente Prudente. Other cities in the West and Central-West regions of São Paulo are also receiving them, such as Rinópolis, Dracena, Pacaembu, Botucatu, Pratânia, Lençóis Paulista, Assis, Pederneiras and Lins.

In the case of Bauru and Marília, the cities already had the device, while Dracena also had it, but it was private. Now, the municipality receives the Cemaden rain gauge.