Andhra Pradesh   

Network of radars to study tropical atmosphere

Chitra V. Ramani

Gadanki (Tirupati): The National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) has taken the lead to establish the International Network of Tropical Atmosphere Radars (INTAR).

INTAR will coordinate and establish a scientific and operational programme to study the tropical atmosphere, mainly by means of radars and related instruments.

"There are not enough observational platforms that provide accurate predictions of the tropical atmosphere in the country. We have decided to set up a network of radars in 10 to 12 parts of the country to facilitate recording of reliable data that will help make accurate weather predictions," said D. Narayana Rao, director of NARL.

He said NARL would be the nodal agency that would collect the data from the centres across the country. "It is a challenging field as no international model can be used to make accurate weather predictions in the tropical regions. An observation platform at one point is insufficient as there are too many factors that have to be taken into consideration."

Prof. Rao said the proposed network would come up under the 11th Plan. "Since the radars would also provide information about wind velocities, the Department of Civil Aviation is also sure to benefit from the project. Most of the commercial aircraft fly between nine km and 11 km altitude and it is important for the pilots to know about wind velocity and temperature," he said.

Using the information provided by the networks, the industry could make a 15 per cent saving on aviation fuel. "The information on wind velocity and direction will be provided to the air traffic controls of the airports near the centres. They will inform the pilots, who will be able to use the tail wind to manoeuvre the aircraft, thereby saving on aviation fuel," he said.

MST radar

A network of radars on the NARL premises — Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) radar — is an excellent system used for probing in the regions of the mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere, up to a height of 100 km. "It is a state-of-the-art instrument that is capable of providing estimates of atmospheric parameters with high resolution on a continuous basis, which is essential for the study of the different and dynamic processes in the atmosphere," Prof. Rao said.

The radar operates at 53 MHz with a peak power of 2.5 MW. The phased antenna array consists of two orthogonal sets. The 32 x 32 matrix is aligned along the geomagnetic axes to enable the radar beam to be transverse to the earth's magnetic field. "The radar operates under instruction from a PC-based radar controller that executes an experiment according to the specifications set by the scientists. Both time and power spectrum data are recorded online, which can be processed offline to derive various atmospheric parameters," said Srinivasulu of NARL. Another array of 19 x 19 would be set up on the NARL premises. "It is a recent addition and will probably be commissioned sometime next month," he said. Prof. Rao said NARL had organised the 11th international workshop on the tropical and scientific aspects of MST radars.

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