TANGO from our scientist will help weather forecasters

Winning the competition organized by the National Science Center, together with the National Center for Research and Development, means obtaining funds for the commercialization of the project outcome regarding “GNSS tomography as a significant source of meteorological data”.

Doctor Witold Rohm, geodesist and geographer, in collaboration with scientists from the Department of Climatology and Atmosphere Protection from the Wrocław University have been working on constructing a system for monitoring the amount of water steam in the troposphere.

– The most important part of the system is its software and I have been working on it for the last seven years – explains Witold Rohm, who admits that he has had moments of despair but… – My previous supervisor, Professor Jarosław Bosy, has an exceptional skill: he perfectly feels which project has a future ahead of it, even if you cannot see the effect at the time. So even if you are not successful, he can persuade you that it is worth continuing – adds Doctor Rohm.

The project carried out in the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformatics of the University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław is supposed to create a tomography model of the troposphere – for practical use by meteorologists and the improvement of the quality of prepared weather forecasts. – Our work uses Global Navigation Satellite Systems observations for the purpose of meteorology – explains Doctor Rohm, who underlines that the software he has been working on should be also helpful for systems of early monitoring flood threats. – I did not see the “millennial flood” that happened in Wrocław in 1997 but I experienced the one in 2010 so I understand what it is to be afraid of the big water. I live in Wojnów and together with many of my neighbors we were arranging sandbags and observing if water was coming over the flood banks. Fortunately it did not – but it was close just 20 centimeters below – says the scientist.

TANGO is a joint project of NSC and NCRD which is to help scientific units and universities to launch modern technologies, products and services to the market as well as strengthen the collaboration of scientists and entrepreneurs.

kbk, PAP Nauka w Polsce