Environmentalist to Cojuangco: Educate Us on Tech Roles vs Calamities

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – The consultant of this city’s Climate Change Task Force said he will be inviting gubernatorial aspirant Mark O Cojuangco to discuss how to help solve the perennial flood problem and the threat of tsunami here through the Lidar Radar.

This lidar may be used to scan buildings, rock formations, etc., to produce a 3D model
 The lidar can aim its laser beam in a wide range: its head rotates horizontally; a mirror tilts
 vertically. The laser beam is used to measure the distance to the first object on its path.
PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA

Environmentalist Nick Melecio, speaking at radio station DWPR here, said Cojuangco is an indispensable source because of his eye on the roles played by technology and innovation on how to counter natural calamities that could hit this city and the province of Pangasinan.
Cojuangco earlier told Northern Watch that one of the solutions to arrest the scourge of flood in the big province is by using Lidar Radar.
According to the U.S National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration , LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
The other technique he explained to help solve the massive flooding in Central Pangasinan aside from Lidar is through dredging, resettlement of illegal settlers on the river banks, and expansion of waterways.

Bigger water ways, he said, means large volume of water can be accommodated. The former congressman of Pangasinan said these expanded water ways could arrest flooding on areas near the rivers.
He also said stilling or excavating a wide land area to catch large volume of water would help control flooding.

Although stilling technique is new in the Philippines, it has been done in other countries like Mainland China, he said.
Melecio, who discussed the menace brought by tsunami at Ruel Camba’s morning program, deplored that the two early warning devices (EWD) against tsunami here are no longer functioning.
He said personnel of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology took the communication modules of the EWD for repair at its contracted private technology arm.
“They could not receive and give signals. Their batteries are expired,” he stressed.
He said there are two kinds of EWDs here, the Dry Sensor and Wet Sensor.
He explained that both sensors detect every time the water recede in a particular portion.
“Pag nag recede ang tubig may tsunami lalo na if it is preceded by an earthquake”.
He explained that tsunami would not be a one wave strike but could take off to the nearby community by up to 10 times with massive height.