ISRO Upgrades World's Second Most Powerful RADAR Facility at NARL

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Upgradation of MST Radar facility at NARL​

National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), an autonomous research institute of Department of Space is engaged in fundamental and applied research in the field of Atmospheric Sciences. A high power 53 MHz Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) Radar was established in 1992 as a national facility for atmospheric research. The MST Radar is a state-of-the-art instrument capable of providing estimates of atmospheric parameters with very high resolution on a continuous basis. It is an important research tool in the investigation of prevailing winds, waves (including gravity waves) turbulence, and atmospheric stability & other meso-scale phenomena. This radar is the second largest powerful radar in the world; the largest one is the 50 MHz Jicamarca radar, located in Lima, Peru.

NARL radar consists of 32 vacuum tube based transmitters providing a total peak power of 2.5 MW and a semi active antenna array of 1024 Yagi having aperture of ~1.7x104 m2 and was designed to study winds, waves and turbulence in the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere, and plasma irregularities and electrodynamics in the ionosphere. This radar has been extensively used for studying tropical atmospheric dynamics including short and long term wind variabilities with application to satellite launch missions and developing model, understanding plasma irregularities linked with equatorial plasma bubble for satellite-based communication/navigation applications, and understanding convective and precipitation systems.

An up-gradation project has been taken up to replace the tube based transmitters and semi-active antenna array with 1024 solid-state 1-kW Transmit-Receive (TR) modules each feeding one Yagi antenna making the radar system fully active with antenna beam agility covering 360o azimuth, which does not exist in the original system. Most importantly, this will allow conducting multi-receiver experiments for Spaced Antenna and Radar Interferometry/Imaging analysis of atmospheric echoes for in-beam imaging of refractive index field and winds. The up-gradation has been taken up without hampering the routine observational schedule catering to the scientific needs including the radar applications for rocket launch and weather modeling. One of the challenging tasks was to employ highly distributed underground power, RF and optical networks in the antenna array field required for all the 1024 TR modules for various purposes. This task has been completed successfully without affecting the important observational and maintenance schedules of the existing system.

The Figure shows the antenna field after execution of the underground networks and an on-field housing of four-TR modules for a 2x2 sub-array (inset). All TR modules along with other subsystems are expected to be fully integrated by the end of December 2015 for an overall test and evaluation.

With this upgradation, MST radar will become one of the powerful and versatile atmospheric radars in the world, which will offer opportunities for scientists from both home and abroad to conduct frontline research in atmospheric sciences.

Source:- Upgradation of MST Radar facility at NARL - ISRO

 

[Echo_419]

Upgradation of MST Radar facility at NARL​

National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), an autonomous research institute of Department of Space is engaged in fundamental and applied research in the field of Atmospheric Sciences. A high power 53 MHz Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) Radar was established in 1992 as a national facility for atmospheric research. The MST Radar is a state-of-the-art instrument capable of providing estimates of atmospheric parameters with very high resolution on a continuous basis. It is an important research tool in the investigation of prevailing winds, waves (including gravity waves) turbulence, and atmospheric stability & other meso-scale phenomena. This radar is the second largest powerful radar in the world; the largest one is the 50 MHz Jicamarca radar, located in Lima, Peru.

NARL radar consists of 32 vacuum tube based transmitters providing a total peak power of 2.5 MW and a semi active antenna array of 1024 Yagi having aperture of ~1.7x104 m2 and was designed to study winds, waves and turbulence in the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere, and plasma irregularities and electrodynamics in the ionosphere. This radar has been extensively used for studying tropical atmospheric dynamics including short and long term wind variabilities with application to satellite launch missions and developing model, understanding plasma irregularities linked with equatorial plasma bubble for satellite-based communication/navigation applications, and understanding convective and precipitation systems.

An up-gradation project has been taken up to replace the tube based transmitters and semi-active antenna array with 1024 solid-state 1-kW Transmit-Receive (TR) modules each feeding one Yagi antenna making the radar system fully active with antenna beam agility covering 360o azimuth, which does not exist in the original system. Most importantly, this will allow conducting multi-receiver experiments for Spaced Antenna and Radar Interferometry/Imaging analysis of atmospheric echoes for in-beam imaging of refractive index field and winds. The up-gradation has been taken up without hampering the routine observational schedule catering to the scientific needs including the radar applications for rocket launch and weather modeling. One of the challenging tasks was to employ highly distributed underground power, RF and optical networks in the antenna array field required for all the 1024 TR modules for various purposes. This task has been completed successfully without affecting the important observational and maintenance schedules of the existing system.

The Figure shows the antenna field after execution of the underground networks and an on-field housing of four-TR modules for a 2x2 sub-array (inset). All TR modules along with other subsystems are expected to be fully integrated by the end of December 2015 for an overall test and evaluation.

With this upgradation, MST radar will become one of the powerful and versatile atmospheric radars in the world, which will offer opportunities for scientists from both home and abroad to conduct frontline research in atmospheric sciences.

Source:- Upgradation of MST Radar facility at NARL - ISRO

Impressive

 

[Rangila]

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Multi Application Solar Telescope Operationalised at Udaipur Solar Observatory​

Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST), a telescope for the detailed study of the Solar activity including its magnetic field, has recently been operationalised at the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO) of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous unit of the Department of Space. MAST is an off-axis Gregorian-Coude telescope with a 50 cm aperture.

PRL is a premier research institute engaged in basic research in the areas of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Solar Physics, Planetary Science and Exploration, Space and Atmospheric Sciences, Geosciences and Theoretical Physics. Apart from the main campus at Ahmedabad, there are two other campuses at Mt. Abu and Udaipur, hosting the Infrared Telescope and a Multi-Application-Solar Telescope (MAST), respectively. The planetary exploration (PLANEX) programme and the astronomy group are housed in the fourth campus at Thaltej, close to Ahmedabad.

The USO is situated on an island in the middle of the Lake Fatehsagar of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. The sky conditions at Udaipur are quite favourable for solar observations. The large water body surrounding the telescopes decreases the amount of heating of the surface layers. This decreases the turbulence in the air mass and thereby improves the image quality and seeing. The main objective of obtaining the high spatial and temporal resolution observations of solar photospheric and chromospheric activity is to understand the various dynamic phenomena occurring on the surface of the Sun.

Udaipur Solar Observatory, PRL. The collapsible dome enclosing the MAST is seen on the right side​

The recently operationalised Multi Application Solar Telescope’s dome is a collapsible dome made of tensile fabric. Built by Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) of Belgium, MAST was tested by USO for onsite acceptance. Test results accumulated over a year was examined by a committee of experts and telescope was made operationalised on June 16, 2015.

The back-end instruments of MAST, developed in-house at USO, include an adaptive optics system and a narrow band imaging polarimeter using a tandem Fabry-Perot etalon pair and LCVR polarimetric module. Another instrument, viz., a spectropolarimeter, has been developed at ISRO Satellite Centre and will be soon deployed at MAST.

MAST will be used to measure vector magnetic fields of active regions at different heights of the solar atmosphere. It will also be used to study seismic effects of solar flares. Some test images taken during the trial runs of MAST are shown in Figures, which include images taken with H-alpha and G-band filters.

Figure 1. Top row: Chromospheric (left) and Photospheric (right) images of a sunspot taken in H-alpha (656.3nm) and G-band (430.5 nm) wavelengths. The sunspot is part of an active region NOAA# 12356, taken on 04 June 2015, 05:13UT.

Bottom row: Chromospheric (left) image of a prominence seen off the solar limb in H-alpha and the corresponding photospheric (right) image in G-band wavelengths taken on 05 June 2015, 04:13 UT. ​

Figure 2. Image of Copernicus crater on the Moon captured during one of the pointing tests of 50 cm Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST). The field of view is around 3 arc-min.
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Source:- Multi Application Solar Telescope Operationalised at Udaipur Solar Observatory - ISRO​

 

[Matrixx]

great

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

India's biggest telescope inaugurated in Udaipur​

The newly inaugurated Multi Application Solar Telescope at Udaipur on tuesday. (HT Photo)​

India's biggest multi-application solar telescope (MAST) was inaugurated at the Udaipur Solar Observatory on Tuesday by Prof UR Rao, the chairman of the governing council of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Rao said that MAST would help in the study of movements of stars and sun even in day time. "With the help of this device, researchers can achieve new heights internationally in the study of sun and related components," he added.

Authorised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, MAST has been funded by the Department of Space. So far Rs 26 crore has been spent on the project. The Physical Research Laboratory of Ahmedabad will take care of the project.

Besides providing 3-D images of solar activities like solar blast and solar flares, MAST could help in vital studies about other planetary movements.

India's biggest multi-application solar telescope (HT Photo)​

The telescope was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, as it is surrounded by water, which keeps temperature pleasant. Besides, the site can boast of more than 250 days of continuous sunshine, which allows to observe the sun properly during day time.

MAST, designed in 2004, had optical elements added to it till 2008. It was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory in 2012. MAST, which has a lens of 50 centimetre diameter, is developed on the basis of mechanical and optical system of Belgium.

While its rear part was developed by the observatory, its front was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Source:- India's biggest telescope inaugurated in Udaipur