SPECIAL RADAR EQUIPMENT

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25389, 12 January 1948, Page 8

SPECIAL RADAR EQUIPMENT

NEW INSTRUMENTS BEING TESTED AT WHENUAPAI INFORMATION ON WEATHER AT HIGH ALTITUDES "The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, January 11. Special radar meteorological equipment costing £39.000 which, if tests prove successful, will enable the highest pay loads to be carried with safety on trans-Tasman and other longdistance flights, has been constructed at the Dominion Physical Laboratory, Lower Hutt, and is now being tested at Whenuapai aerodrome. Mr R. A. Ewing, officer in charge of instruments at the meteorological office at Kelburn, said that with the increase of commercial aviation, it had become necessary for the meteorological services to be able to advise avia-' tors and flying organisations about the lipper winds over wide sections of the globe. In the operation of the flying-boat service between Australia and New Zealand, the payload and fuel load ■were carefully balanced after discussion with the meteorological officer on the current weather situation. At present the operating height of most commercial aircraft was about 10.000 feet, but in the near future, when aircraft began to operate more generally at from 20,000 to 30.000. feet and above, the need for accurate meteorological information would become even more important, as high winds, often in excess of 100 miles an hour and extending over considerable areas were not uncommon at those altitudes. “The intelligent use of those upper winds may mean everything in the economical running of an operating agency,” Mr Ewing said. “In order to secure information on these upper winds in r.ll weather conditions, it is necessary to use electronic methods for determining them. The old method was to follow a hydrogen balloon visually with a theodolite, but the intervention of cloud and rain seriously hampered this procedure. To overcome this, radar principles have been adopted for following the hydrogen balloons. “If the tests being made at Whenuapai prove successful, it is hoped to have the first of four sets comprising the equipment in commercial operation next month. Given success in practice, similar installations will be provided for Palmerston North, Invercargill, and Fiji. “Another use for wind-finding radar sets is for storm detection. While this has more immediate use in tropical latitudes, it can still prove a very useful tool to meteorologists in temperate latitudes, if suitable techniques are worked out, as warnings of the onset of extensive rain areas, especially those associated with cold fronts, can usually be obtained from a distance of 100 miles or more.”