Are raindrops falling on your head?
Are you getting hassled by hail? Is snow glistening in your treetops? We need your weather reports for our research!
GET THE mPING APP!
The NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory is collecting public weather reports through a free app available for smart phones or mobile devices. The app is called “mPING,” for Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground.
Download an mPING fact sheet (.pdf, 458 kB)
mPING reports are immediately archived into a database at The University of Oklahoma, and are displayed on a map accessible to anyone.
To use the app, reporters select the type of weather that is occurring, and tap “submit.” The anonymous reports can be submitted as often as every minute.
WHAT DOES NOAA DO WITH THE REPORT I SEND?
The collection of mPING information is authorized under the OMB Control Number included in the Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing Information Collection page.
Weather radars cannot “see” at the ground, so mPING reports are used by the NOAA National Weather Service to fine-tune their forecasts. NSSL uses the data in a variety of ways, including to develop new radar and forecasting technologies and techniques.
Read about Dual Pol Radar research at NSSL→
The apps are available on iTunes and Google Play for use on both phones and tablets. Follow this project and others on the NSSL Facebook page.
The mPING app was developed through a partnership between NSSL, the University of Oklahoma and the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and was included in Scientific American's list of 8 Apps That Turn Citizens into Scientists.
