Bhubaneswar: Sambalpur district is to have Odisha’s first C-Band doppler weather radar (DWR) station, which will be commissioned in the next three months. The State already has two S-Band DWR stations in Paradip and Gopalpur. There are a total of 39 X-Band, S-Band, and C-Band DWRs in the country.

The first S-Band radar station was installed in Paradip town of Jagatsinghpur on November 21, 2015.

Taking to its official ‘X’ handle, the Meteorological (MeT) Centre here wrote, “A C-Band doppler weather radar station in Sambalpur will probably become commissioned in the coming two to three months. All parts of the radar reached the Meteorological Centre office in Bhubaneswar on April 5.”

It is pertinent to mention here that S-Band radars operate on a wavelength of 8 CM to 15 CM and a frequency of around 2 GHz to 4 GHz. Because of the wavelength and frequency, S-Band radars are not easily attenuated and this makes them very useful for near and far-range weather observations.

Against this, C-Band radars are dual polarisation doppler weather radars providing best-in-class weather system detail for more accurate and timely forecasting. They can even distinguish between liquid and frozen precipitation within rain clouds and eliminate non-meteorological targets from radar data.