Maha's first Doppler Radar installed in Nagpur

NAGPUR: A Doppler Weather Radar (DWR), the first in Maharashtra and the third in the country was installed here for accurate predictions of monsoons, cyclones and other weather-related phenomena.

The DWR was installed on Sunday near the Babasaheb Ambedkar International airport in the city.

The state-of-the-art S-Band doppler radar here is provided by a Chinese company and is capable of weather surveillance up to 500 kms. It will cover entire Vidarbha region, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, said Retired Air Vice Marshal Ajit Tyagi, Director General of India Meteorological Centre.

It provides imageries derived from volume scan depicting location and intensities of clouds, expected rainfall from these clouds, horizontal winds and wind shear. The imageries are very good for weather analysis and forecasting, he said.

The DWR provides round-the-clock automatic observation of cloud mass and rain patches with update in every 10 minutes and will prove to be a boon for farmers who will not have to look to the sky for rains and clouds and henceforth will receive bulletins on their mobiles.

Plans are afoot to send feed to the Central Weather Bureau and then to super computer which will transmit data through internet to farmers about accuracy of weather forecast, Tyagi said.

A DWR provides various meteorological, hydrological and aviation products which are useful for forecasters in estimating the storm's centre, fixing its position and predicting its future path. Besides, the Met staff can view thunderstorms, hailstorm, heavy rainfall in greater detail.

Maharashtra's second DWR, manufactured indigenously by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is being installed later this month in Colaba observatory in Mumbai. It will cover the remaining distance between Nagpur and the metropolis.