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News: India’s 51st Doppler Weather Radar was inaugurated at Sambalpur, Odisha, strengthening weather observation and early warning capabilities.
About Doppler Weather Radars
- A Doppler Weather Radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler Effect to produce velocity data about distant objects.
- It provides information about the movement and position of targets.
- Working Mechanism/Doppler Effect:
- The radar antenna emits radio waves towards the atmosphere.
- When the beam strikes an atmospheric object, energy scatters in all directions, and some reflects back to the radar.
- Larger objects deflect more energy, so the radar receives a stronger return signal.
- The time taken for the beam to travel and return helps weather forecasting departments detect raindrops and measure their distance.
- Doppler Weather Radars use varying frequencies known as S-band, C-band and X-band, which are commonly used by the IMD in India.
- Applications:
- Weather-system tracking: Doppler Weather Radar tracks weather systems and cloud bands and gauges rainfall over a coverage area of about 500 km.
- Thunderstorms and lightning: X-band radar is used to detect thunderstorms and lightning.
- Cyclone tracking: C-band radar helps in tracking cyclones.
About Mission Mausam
- Mission Mausam aims to strengthen India’s weather and climate capabilities and make the country “weather-ready” and “climate-smart.”
- Launched by: The mission was launched by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
- Objective: It objective is to improve weather forecasting, modelling, and dissemination capabilities and strengthen meteorological services for disaster management.
- Overseen by: The mission will be led by three institutions funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES):
- India Meteorological Department (IMD)
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune
- National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (Noida)
- Key Features:
- Forecasting and Modelling: The mission focuses on upgrading weather surveillance and forecasting capabilities.
- Weather Management: It will help manage rainfall, hail, fog, and lightning by adjusting their intensity on demand.
- Cloud Physics Research: It focuses on enhancing research in cloud physics.
- Expansion of Doppler Weather Radar Network
- India currently has 51 Doppler Weather Radars for weather surveillance and forecasting.
- Under Mission Mausam, around 40 additional radars are planned, which will expand the country’s radar network to about 81 radars.
