The radars guide meteorologists, particularly in times of extreme weather events like cyclones and associated heavy rainfall. (File Photo) The much-awaited second doppler weather radar (DWR) for Mumbai will finally be commissioned on Friday. The C-band Doppler Radar in Mumbai’s western suburbs will track severe weather events affecting the region, especially thunderstorms, lightning, squalls and heavy rainfall, in conjunction with other tools and techniques.
“This C-band radar at Mumbai will facilitate a better understanding and monitoring of weather systems, hydrological applications, flood warnings, and also climate research. It will give information about microphysical processes in clouds which can help in improving numerical weather prediction models,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The C-band radar, which has a coverage area of 450 km around Mumbai, will be were virtually inaugurated by Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the occasion of 147th IMD Foundation Day celebration on Friday.
The radars guide meteorologists, particularly in times of extreme weather events like cyclones and associated heavy rainfall. C-band also guides at the time of cyclone tracking.
In June last year, the IMD had begun experimental trials for it. The IMD shared images of the same on its official website back then, and said these were “uncalibrated” images. Officials said, so far, it was being used only by their office to give them additional inputs.
With the radar observations updated every 10 minutes, forecasters can follow the development of weather systems as well as their varying intensities, and accordingly predict weather events and their impact.
This C-band radar is fully indigenous, designed and developed by a team of radar experts of ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has been manufactured by M/S Data Patterns, Chennai. IMD said the radar has been entirely fabricated in India, thus establishing state of the art technology under the Make in India policy.
The central government had decided to install the radars following the 2005 Mumbai deluge, the first of which was to be installed in South Mumbai’s Navy Nagar which is operational since 2011.
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