METEOR 735C Weather Radar officially inaugurated in Sardinia, Italy

16 April 2018 09:56

Selex ES GmbH, a Leonardo company, is pleased to announce the successful installation and inauguration of the new METEOR 735C weather radar for the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Sardinia (ARPAS), Italy.

Installed at 1259m altitude on a 38 meter tower on the top of the windy Monte Rasu mountain in Bono (SS), in the north-west of Sardinia, the new METEOR 735C radar covers the whole northern and center part of the second largest Italian island. It replaces the old GPM250C radar provided by Alenia in 1996 and constitutes an invaluable technological advancement that will allow the Sardinian section of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency to identify and monitor meteorological events much more accurately.

The new radar, entirely developed by Selex ES GmbH and installed worldwide at the most prestigious weather services, represents the state-of-the-art of current technology, and features a high-power dual-polarization pencil-shaped beam that allows for more precise discrimination of hydrometeors and their parameters. The Antenna Mounted Receiver design of the radar provides for better data through higher sensitivity and less variation of ZDR-offsets. The system can fully exploit its quality and characteristics also through its seamless integration with Rainbow® 5, the latest of Selex ES GmbH’s meteorological software, internationally and independently recognized as the best meteorological software suite available on the market.

The new radar will integrate the other two Sardinian weather radars of Monte Armidda, operated by the national Department of Civil Protection (DPC), and of the Military Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) located in Capo Caccia (Sassari), which were also supplied by Selex ES GmbH. All radars will feed their data also to the Civil Protection National Radar Network.

The ceremonial inauguration of the new Monte Rasu radar, which took place on April 12th 2018 in the presence of the Head of National Civil Protection and of the Regional Environmental Councilor, is a further confirmation of Selex ES leadership in the area of weather radar technology and meteorological solutions.