BMKG Uses Radar ITB to Observe Weather in Bandung
JAKARTA – Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Prof. Dwikorita Karnawati expressed her appreciation for the creation of a weather radar made by ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) researchers.
During a review of the weather radar on the rooftop of the ITB School of Business and Management (SBM) building, Prof. Dwikorita stated that the radar has many advantages, including portability, the absence of a tube, ease of installation, and its Indonesian origin. Most weather radars currently in use are made abroad.
"Because we have been using spare parts from abroad, if there is damage to the spare parts, we still have to wait a long time, because this radar is made in Indonesia, maintenance, upkeep, or spare parts damage can be obtained directly from ITB," he said.
He said this radar is crucial for weather monitoring in Bandung and its surrounding areas, with a range of approximately 60 kilometers. Furthermore, it's ideal for monitoring local areas with unique weather dynamics, such as the Bandung Basin.
"We already have a long-range radar in Tangerang. However, it's not very accurate in anticipating extreme weather in Bandung. So, this weather radar will improve the accuracy and precision of extreme weather predictions," he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of BMKG was accompanied by Rector Prof. Kadarsah Suryadi on Wednesday (September 19, 2018). ITB Rector Prof. Kadarsah Suryadi expressed his gratitude to BMKG and other relevant parties for the development of this weather radar, citing its cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional nature.
"Why interdisciplinary? Because there's meteorology, there's electronics, mechanics, and earth science. But what's interesting here is that the innovations our colleagues are making are supported by industry and have direct access to the BMKG," said the Chancellor.
The Chancellor added that with this cross-sectoral meeting, ITB's plans and innovations could hopefully be implemented immediately. He believes this model could serve as a reference for innovation in other fields.
ITB Researchers from the Expertise Group Telecomm Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (STEI) Dr. M. Ridwan Effendi developed a weather radar which has another name, I-WARP or Indonesian Weather Radar – Polarimetric.
Ridwan stated that the presence of this radar further strengthens the national weather radar system. He further explained that this second radar is a new model compared to the previously developed Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar.
This second radar is a Pulse Polarimetric Doppler Radar, offering the advantages of a more compact design, all solid-state technology, no tube components, and fully electronic components. Furthermore, the development of this second weather radar also involved PT Inti, PT CMI Teknologi, and BMKG.
"The first model was analog, but now the pulse model is more compact. But the range is the same. We want to test this, and hopefully the results will be as good as the radar that was developed previously," said Ridwan.
Ridwan added that the working system of this weather radar will later emit electromagnetic waves to objects in space such as rain particles, wind, and air.
"Objects in space will reflect back and these reflections will be analyzed," he said.
However, this weather radar can be applied for weather observation, severe weather monitoring, storm, typhoon, and cyclone tracking, hail detection, hydrometeorological applications, such as flood forecasting, meteorological research, agricultural needs, and wind shear detection at airports.
"The benefits are excellent, allowing us to see current weather or forecasts. We hope that in the future, we can not only develop our knowledge but also contribute to the country," he said.
This second radar was installed on the roof of the SBM-ITB building, as it is the tallest and most robustly constructed. ITB is the first of its kind to build a weather radar in Indonesia.