Look around the skyline of Secunderabad and you will notice the addition of a white dome that stands out for its size and shape. This is the newly inaugurated Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Begumpet making ours the second city after Delhi to be equipped with this advanced facility in the first phase of modernisation of IMD.
Simply put a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) is a computerised Radar which scans the atmosphere round the clock and relays information about the presence of clouds, their location, intensit, height within the range of 500 Km radius in and around Hyderabad. Information about general weather such as wind velocity, movement of clouds within a range of 250 Km and the rate of rainfall within an effective range of 150 Km is also recorded.
The radar makes it possible to ascertain the development and movement of thunderstorms and heavy rainfall zones. This in turn helps provide aviation warnings, agro-meteorological advise for the benefit of the farming community in the State, climatology data that is required for maintaining a data base.
Big dome
“The large dome called a Radome is 11.8 m in diameter and shields the sensitive Radar Antenna. It is made of foam sandwiched fibre glass to allow the passage of radio waves,” says Y.K. Reddy, Scientist, IMD.
The observatory is kept open for school children/public on IMD Formation Day (January 15), National Science Day (February 28) and Word Meteorological Day ( March 23).
For school visits to the IMD Observatory contact 9440547796.
