ARIES Stratosphere and Troposphere Radar (ASTRAD), ARIES, Nainital     

Radars have been proven to be excellent and indispensable experimental tool to measure various atmospheric parameters used for basic atmospheric research, weather forecasting and disaster management. In this context,              a state of the art Stratosphere-Tropospheric (ST) Radar designed for operating at frequency of 206.5 MHz and      installed in the foothills of the Himalayan region at ARIES, Nainital (29.4°N; 79.2°E; ~1800 m amsl) to understand         the intriguing aspects of lower  atmospheric dynamics over the data sparse region of Central Himalaya. Such high altitude active aperture radar in VHF band  (~200 MHz) along with antenna elements over the roof top has been built     for the first time in the country. 

Major Specifications:

•        Operating Frequency: 206.5 MHz
•        Bandwidth: 5 MHz                                                                                                              
•        Peak Power aperture product: 1*10(8) Wm2
•        Height coverage: 0.5 to 20 Km (nominal)                                    
•        Height resolution: 150 m (typical)
•        Horizontal wind velocity: 1 m/s to 70 m/s
•       Vertical wind velocity: 1 m/s to 30 m/s
•        Velocity resolution: 0.1 m/s to 2 m/s depending on magnitude
•        Time resolution: 10 min for full profile (typical)

Nainital is considered to be the gateway to the Himalayan region dominated with intriguing dynamical/meteorological aspects such as wind structures, boundary layer characteristics, tropospheric temperature, monsoon troughs, cloud morphology, western disturbances and short/large scale variabilities associated with atmospheric background oscillations. Hence, the ST-Radar system with 588 elements array will provide a deep insight into synoptic processes and mesoscale systems with high vertical and temporal resolutions over central Himalayan region.

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