Meteorology Department Sets up Advanced Doppler Weather Radar in Karachi

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has activated a modern doppler weather radar in Karachi that is capable of forecasting rainfall in a radius of about 450kms and strong winds in a radius of about 200kms.

It is also capable of providing timely reports of cyclones and other tropical storms in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal regions.

It was installed after a period of 30 years. The new installed weather radar is more advanced than the three decades old one. The new radar was built at a cost of around Rs1.58 billion.

The PMD department had also provided a link to radar imagery on its website. The weather device is capable of detecting conditions much faster as compared it its analogue predecessor. Remember that the old one was installed in 1991.

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The new device was supposed to be activated before the monsoon rains of 2020, however, due to the pandemic, the operation was delayed. Here are images of the radar under construction:

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Benefits of the new radar:

Talking about its significance the meteorology department director Sardar Sarfaraz said that:

• The new radar has twice the wavelength as compared to the analogue equipment, which had about a wavelength of 10cm.
• This will let the department observe unusual activities including thunder storms, cloud masks and others simultaneously from the east, west, north and south.
• The state-of-the-art device would also be able to predict rainfall in advance, in both millimetres and centimetres, two to six hours before its occurence.
• This will facilitate town planning and forecasting for rainwater discharge. It would also detect passing weather systems near the city..
• The radar would also be helpful for the aviation industry as it would be able to gauge strong winds.
• This will help protect flights and ships from hazards. The system of international shipping and shipping traffic forecasting will be improved.
• A quick warning will be possible in case of storms, rains, hot weather and other weather disasters.