Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)

Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) 

  • The Union Minister of Earth Sciences recently inaugurated two out of ten indigenously built ‘X-band Doppler Weather Radars’ (DWR) online to closely monitor the weather changes over the Himalayas.
  • In addition, a ‘multi-mission meteorological data processing system’ developed in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was also launched.

Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)

Key points :

  • The design and development of the DWR has been done by ISRO and produced by Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore.
  • These bipolar radars, covering the Central and Western Himalayas, will collect atmospheric variation data and indicate extreme seasonal events.
  • Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh remain vulnerable to cloudburst, landslides, heavy rains and snowfall.
  • It is very difficult to predict the occurrence of cloudburst. According to meteorologists, the occurrence of cloudburst can be estimated only a few hours before it happens through the Nowcast method.

Doppler Radar: This is a special radar that uses the Doppler effect to collect data related to the velocity of objects located at some distance from each other.

Radar: It is a device that uses electromagnetic waves in the micro-wave field to detect the location (speed and direction), height and intensity, movement of moving and non-moving objects.

Doppler Effect:

There is a change in the frequency observed by the observer when the source and signal move relative to each other. If they are moving towards each other, the frequency increases and when they go away the frequency decreases.

It targets a desired target (object) via a microwave signal and analyzes how the motion of the target object has changed the frequency of the returning signals.

Doppler weather radar

Based on the Doppler principle, the radar is designed to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting and monitoring using a ‘parabolic dish antenna’ and a foam sandwich spherical radome.

The DWR consists of instruments to measure rainfall intensity, wind gradient, and velocity, which inform the center of the cyclone and the direction of the dust storm.

Types of Doppler Radar: Doppler radar can be divided into different categories based on wavelength, such as L, S, C, X, K.

X-band radar:

They operate at wavelengths of 2.5–4 cm and frequency of 8–12 GHz. X-band radars are highly sensitive due to the shorter wavelengths that are capable of detecting microscopic particles.

Source – Indian Express

Download Our App

More Current Affairs

Share with Your Friends

Join Our Whatsapp Group For Daily, Weekly, Monthly Current Affairs Compilations

Related Articles

Youth Destination Facilities

Enroll Now For UPSC Course