Radio waves emitted by Tokyo Skytree may help make it easier to predict a heavy downpour in the Tokyo metropolitan area by the time the capital hosts the 2020 Olympic Games, according to research by the Tokyo-based National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.

The transmission speed of radio waves for digital terrestrial broadcasting slows down when there is a large amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, according to Seiji Kawamura, senior researcher at the institute.

By analyzing the delay of radio waves transmitted by the world's tallest tower, which is situated in Sumida Ward, it may be possible to find out how much water vapor is contained in the atmosphere in a specific area.