mPING™ and WeatherCall
Be a citizen scientist & participate in improving the weather forecast!
Using your WeatherCall rain gauge and a free app on your smart phone, you too can now help meteorologists across the country improve forecasts.
How you ask?
First, you'll want to install your WeatherCall rain gauge in a clear space. You want the gauge away from walls, trees, or other obstacles.
These obstacles affect how much rain makes it into the gauge. A quick and easy rule of thumb is to place the gauge as far from an obstacle as that obstacle is high.
You also want to make sure that the gauge is level so it accurately measures the rain it catches.
Next download the app!
After that, you will need to download the mPING™ app from either the Apple App Store or from the Google Play Store.
From there, click around the app to make sure you are familiar with the app. You can also submit a TEST report to ensure your phone's location is accurate and you can report when it is needed.
Start reporting!
Using your app and your rain gauge, you can help meteorologists at the National Weather Service and your local tv station too!
Since 2007, WeatherCall Services, LLC has been a trusted, private sector partner of the National Weather Service. Download the free mPING™ app today and put your rain gauge data to work!
More About mPING™
mPING™ stands for "Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground". Weather radars cannot “see” at the ground, so mPING™ reports submitted by people like you are used by the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Lab (NSSL) to fine-tune their forecasts. NSSL uses the data in a variety of ways, including in the development of new radar and forecasting technologies and techniques.
Since the app launched in December of 2012, mPING™ has received more than TWO MILLION weather reports on U.S.-based weather events including rain, snow, ice, wind, hail, tornadoes, floods, landslides, fog and dust storms. These reports are used to improve forecasts related to road maintenance, aviation operations and public warnings.
There are more than 50,000 users using the mPING™ app with more using an additional app (RadarScope) to also report what they are seeing to the mPING™ servers.
In 2016, the app went GLOBAL and reports are now being submitted around the world, helping meteorologists improve their forecasts and their accuracy.
The free application was listed in Scientific American’s list of 8 Apps That Turn Citizens into Scientists.
As of October 2021, the team running the mPING™ app has a research paper in review updating what meteorologists know about hail climatology. (We'll link this once the paper becomes public after review).
If you would like to learn more about mPING™ from the National Severe Storms Lab, you can CLICK HERE.
