Context
Post 2024 floods and landslides, the Ministry of Earth Sciences approved X-Band Radar installation in Wayanad.
About Wayanad’s X-Band Radar
- Operates in the 8-12 GHz frequency range
- Wavelengths of 2-4 cm.
- The smaller wavelengths allow the radar to produce images of higher resolution.
- Detects smaller particles like raindrops, fog, offering high-resolution images.
- However, due to faster attenuation, it has a shorter range.
- Applications:
- Used in short-range weather forecasting (rainfall, landslides). Also applied in air traffic control and military.
- In Wayanad, the new radar is expected to monitor particle movements for landslide warnings and provide high-temporal sampling for rapid changes.
About Radar:
- Radar stands for Radio Detection and Ranging.
- Uses radio waves to determine distance, velocity, and characteristics of objects.
- Transmitter sends signals to the object (e.g., cloud), which echo back to be analyzed by the receiver.
- India’s Radar Network:
- India uses X-band, S-band (2-4 GHz) radars for long-range detection.
- Under Mission Mausam , the government plans to install up to 60 radars by 2026 to enhance meteorological capabilities.
- Doppler Radar:
- Common in meteorology for tracking wind patterns, storms, and velocity of clouds using the Doppler effect.
- The Doppler effect refers to changes in the frequency of waves as their source moves relative to an observer.
Read about NISAR
Source: TH
Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. The IOD phenomenon is characterised by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean.
2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino’s impact on the monsoon.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2017 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (b)
