A first: Avalanche-monitoring radar set up in Sikkim along LAC

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23

The first avalanche monitoring radar has been installed at a forward post in north Sikkim along the boundary with China.

Located at an altitude of 15,000 ft, the radar, the first of its kind in India, has the capability to detect an avalanche within three seconds of its trigger and will assist in saving lives of troops and reducing damage to property.

It uses a series of short microwave pulses which detect an avalanche in under three seconds. The radar can permanently scan the targeted slope for avalanche and track the path of the avalanche and its size in case it is triggered.

The radar can see through snow, fog as well as in the night, making it an all-weather solution and covers an area of 2 sq km, obviating the requirement to place additional instruments in dangerous avalanche-prone areas.

The radar is also linked to an alarm system enabling automatic control and warning measures in case an avalanche is triggered. Images and videos of the event are automatically recorded for future analysis. The Army will operate the radar made by the Defence Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE). Lieutenant General Tarn Kumar Aich, Commander of the 33 Corps, inaugurated it.

Detection within three seconds

• It has the capability to detect an avalanche within three seconds
• It will help in saving lives of troops and reducing damage to property
• The radar can see through snow, fog as well as in the night, making it an all-weather solution
• It is the first avalanche- monitoring radar installed at a forward post in north Sikkim along the boundary with China

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