The nation's first mobile Doppler meteorological radar system has
been put into operation at a Yangtze River section in Hubei
Province.
The system, jointly financed by the Meteorological Administration
and the government of the city of Jingzhou in Hubei, is the key
element of a large state meteorological research program titled,
"Outdoor experiment on intermittent drizzle front and strong
rainstorms in the Yangtze River Valley."
With the application of a number of advanced technologies, the
meteorological radar system only takes a few minutes to assemble
and dismantle, and only needs three trucks to transport it, said
Gao Zhonghui, the engineer responsible for the development of the
system at the Hefei-based Anhui Sichuan Electronics Co.
Helped by the radar, meteorological workers will not only be able
to survey weather features, but also to gauge the distribution of
air currents based on the principle of the Doppler effect, and
thereby make timely and accurate forecasts about common natural
disasters in the basin of the Yangtze River in Hubei, Xinhua News
Agency said.
The section of the Yangtze, also called the Jingjiang River,
traverses complicated landforms, making it difficult to monitor and
forecast natural disasters, especially floods. Thus Jingjiang is
the most dangerous section of the river.
Experts believe that the operation of the Doppler radar will help
improve the country's capability to forecast and monitor
intermittent drizzle fronts and heavy summer rainstorms in the area
south of the Yangtze River, and facilitate anti-flood efforts.
The radar network is being upgraded with about 100 sets of
new-generation Doppler weather radar systems.
(eastday.com
09/04/2001)