New Doppler Radars In Maharashtra: IMD:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that it will install seven new doppler radars in Maharashtra, including Mumbai in 2021.
- In January 2021, the Union Minister for Earth Sciences commissioned two of the ten indigenously built X-Band Doppler Weather Radars (DWR) to closely monitor the weather changes over the Himalayas.
India Meteorological Department:
- It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, established in 1875.
- It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.
- Doppler radars of varying frequencies — S-band, C-band and X-band — are commonly used by the IMD to detect and track the movement of weather systems, cloud bands and gauge rainfall over its coverage area of about 500 km.
- Four X-band and one C-band radar will be deployed over Mumbai. In addition, Ratnagiri will get a new C-band and Vengurla will get an X-band radar, each of which will operate for multiple purposes.
Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging):
- It is a device which uses electromagnetic waves in the microwaves region to detect location (range & direction), altitude, intensity and movement of moving and non-moving objects.
- Doppler Radar:
- It is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance.
- Doppler effect: When the source and the signal are in relative motion to each other there is a change in the frequency observed by the observer.
- If they are moving closer, frequency increases and vice versa.
