The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) is planning to install four radar systems in Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties to expand the area where it gathers precipitation-related data.
The four new radar systems in the outlying islands — two in Kinmen and two in Matsu — would enable the bureau to monitor weather systems coming from China and better determine types of precipitation through three-dimensional observations, it said, adding that the radar systems can also help Taiwan better prepare for typhoons and flash floods.
The bureau currently operates seven weather radar stations, which are used to monitor atmospheric changes in the northern, central, southern and eastern areas of Taiwan proper. The majority of them have been updated to the dual polarimetric Doppler radar, which enables the bureau to monitor wind speeds, raindrops and ice crystals 400km away, the agency said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Each county is to have two types of radars installed: A large weather radar would be used to monitor typhoons, weather fronts, strong convection or other extreme weather systems, while another one would monitor clouds and fog, Chin Hsin-long (秦新龍), a CWB section chief, said on Saturday.
“Because Kinmen and Matsu do not have any radar stations, weather forecasts on the two outlying islands must be made using radar systems on the Taiwan proper,” he said. “However, magnetic waves transmitted from Taiwan only allow us to detect changes in high-altitude clouds, and we have no way of monitoring atmospheric changes in lower altitudes.”
It often leads to inaccurate weather forecasts, Chin said.
The constructions are estimated to cost NT$800 million (US$25.48 million) and scheduled to begin in 2025 and end before 2030, the bureau said.
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