HD-RAIN

Andorra Research + Innovation carried out a case study in the country, in collaboration with the company HD-Rain, to start a campaign to measure precipitation based on the satellite television signal. The stations developed by the HD-Rain company began to be installed, with the aim of recording rainfall.

Andorra is a territory with a ucomplex orography that makes it difficult to observe precipitation from the radar images of the meteorological services of neighboring countries. Together with HD-Rain and the National Meteorological Service, the deployment of a network of satellite television antennas has begun. Unlike the weather radars in neighboring countries, which are expensive and difficult to set up, the technology developed by HD-Rain is innovative and low-cost, and allows the intensity of precipitation to be estimated from the attenuation of the television signal that receives the antenna via satellite.

At the end of May, a first phase began with the installation of seven stations in various areas of Ordino and La Massana. During the summer, the second phase was carried out with six new stations that will allow the start of the pilot campaign to estimate precipitation based on the processing of the signal received from commercial satellites (ASTRA). In addition, three stations installed during the first phase were reviewed and the facilities were adapted to the reality of the country, such as, for example, raising them due to the passage of cows, due to possible accumulation of snow or not damage the architectural value of some buildings, as well as complete with other points of easy access. The pilot network consists of a total of 13 HD-RAIN stations distributed between La Massana, Ordino and Sant Julià de Lòria.

If the results of this case study are satisfactory, taking into account the Andorran orography, this system will make it possible to have a real-time map of the intensity and amount of precipitation falling.

From Andorra Research + Innovation we thank all the collaborators of the project, at the ski resorts of Vallnord Pal-Arinsal and Ordino Arcalís, AndorraTelecom, FEDA, Comú de la Massana and Ordino, Casa Tadora, Sergi Riba and to the Government of Andorra to facilitate the installation of the antennas and thus promote research and innovation in the country.

The campaign started during the fall of 2022.