Isro To Set Up Rs 9 Cr Doppler Weather Radar

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is setting up a doppler weather radar worth Rs 9 crore at Karaikal in Tamil Nadu to give accurate data about cyclone and climatic conditions.

S Rangarajan, director, Indian Space Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (Istrac), said the 48-month-old project had already commenced and the radar unit would be commissioned by the year 2000.

The unique feature of the state-of-the-art radar is that it would be fully made by Indian companies.

He said Isro was having ambitious projects for 1997-98. The Insat 2-D and Insat 2-E would be launched in May, 1997 and January, 1998 respectively. The first GSLV would be launched in March, 1998.

 

The PSLV would launch IRS I-D which would go operational for remote sensing by August 1997. It would be the first of its kind to be launched from Sriharikota, he added.

Rangarajan said the satellite meant for ocean studies, equipped with microwave radio photography would be launched from Sriharikota in 1998. World-wide data would be collected by stations including those in Hyderabad in India, Germany, the US, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Australia.

He said the prestigious United Nations Centre for Space Science and Technology had started functioning in Isro, Ahemedabad and a nine-month course for thirteen students from Asia Pacific countries had commenced in January this year.