Context: India inaugurated its 51st state-of-the-art Doppler Weather Radar at Sambalpur, Odishaà It strengthens weather monitoring and forecasting.

What is Doppler Weather Radar?

• A specialised radar that uses the Doppler Effect to detect the position and movement/velocity of atmospheric targets such as precipitation particles.
• Doppler Effect: Change in observed frequency of a wave due to relative motion between the source and observer/target.

How Does It Work?

• Radio-wave transmission → interaction with raindrops → reflected signal → distance measurement → Doppler analysis → velocity and movement detection

Radar Bands

• X-band: Detects thunderstorms and lightning.
• C-band: Useful for cyclone tracking.
• S-band: Used for broader weather observations.

Applications

• Rainfall estimation
• Thunderstorm and lightning monitoring
• Cyclone tracking
• Tracking weather systems and cloud bands
• Coverage can extend to about 500 km.