Gujarat’s first Doppler weather radar will be erected in Kutch district this year. The central government meteorological department is planning to make this Rs 18 crore Doppler radar functional before next monsoon. At present a structure that would house the radar is under construction at a cost of Rs 8 crore. There are five similar Doppler radar active in the country in southern and eastern parts. However the Bhuj facility would be the first in the state and also in entire western India. Some state-of-the-art instrument of this radar are already arrived from Bangalore. Once erected here, the weather department would deploy permanent staff experienced in handling this sophisticated system.

This weather prediction system that can detect weather conditions within a radius of 500 km, will be in place by next year. In conjunction with numerical weather predictions model, Doppler Radar can predict rain six hours before occurrence.

The Doppler Radar, unlike conventional radars, can detect reflectivity, velocity and spectrum width. It helps in collecting correct information about the volume of precipitation an area or region is likely to receive in a given time frame. All weather radars send out radio waves from an antenna. Objects in the air raindrops, snow crystals, hailstones or even insects and dust scatter or reflect some of the radio waves back to the antenna.

All weather radars, including Doppler, electronically convert reflected radio waves into pictures showing the location and intensity of precipitation.

The radar can be useful for minute weather observations and greatly helps in clearly understanding various weather parameters. The radar can help in detecting cloud formation and keeping a tab on their movement.

Connected with a computer, the radar uses frequency changes to show directions and speed of the winds blowing around raindrops, insects and other objects that reflect radio waves.