PAGASA acquires first mobile radar

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has acquired its first state-of-the-art mobile radar to better predict severe weather.

PAGASA hydro-meteorological division chief Susan Espinueva said the agency has completed the bidding and awarded the contract for the Mobile X-Band Radar System project to a Japanese company.

The radar costs P30 million and it will be delivered in the last quarter of 2013.

“The mobile radar has been bidded out... once delivered (it) will be dispatched to the field where the tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall,” Espinueva told The STAR.

“It is transportable radar and capable of monitoring all meteorological parameters just like the existing Doppler radars. The only difference is the range which is around 80 to 100 kilometers as compared to C-band or S-band (radars) which range from 300 to 400 km,” she added.

PAGASA’s Severe Tropical Weather Disturbance Reconnaissance, Information Dissemination and Damage Evaluation (STRIDE) team - a group of weather specialists who get close to a storm - uses handheld anemometer, global positioning system or GPS, mobile phone, camera, video, and laptop to gather as much information about storms.

But they earlier admitted that the devices they use in spotting storms are not as sophisticated as the tools used in other countries.