Slovak Weather Radar Network

The most effective tool to detect the clouds and precipitation is the weather radar. It provides the weather forecast community some enhanced information about the thunderstorms and precipitation within the 250 - 150 km from the radar.

There are two Doppler weather radars in the Slovak national weather radar network both operating in C band frequency. DSWR92C Doppler Surveillance Weather Radar, made by EEC, located at the top of Malý Javorník in the Low Carpathian Mountains near the capital Bratislava (West Slovakia). The radar has been in operation since 1997. RDR250-GC Doppler Weather Radar with Dual Polarization, made by Radtec and Gamic, located at the hill Kojšovská hoľa near Košice (East Slovakia). The radar has been in operation since 2005.

The weather radar is capable to measure such values as

  • Z - radar reflectivity
  • V - Doppler velocity
  • W - spectrum width

and the polarimetric weather radar measures in addition

  • ZDR - Differential Reflectivity
  • LDR - Linear Depolarization Ratio
  • Θdp - Differential Phase
  • ρhv  -  Correlation Coefficient
  • Kdp  - Specific Differential Phase

The measurement frequency is 10  minutes.

Products created from the volume data

  • CAPPI  Z 2 km - reflectivity at the constant altitude 2 km
  • ETOPS - echo top hight
  • CMAX - maximum od reflectivity
  • Accumulated precipitation

For the special reasons some enhanced products have been generated.

  • BASE - reflectivity of the cloud base
  •  TRACK - thunderstorm tracking
  • VECTOR - replacement vector of the clouds
  •  VIL - vertical integrated liquid
  •  PPI - plan position indicator ( constant elevation)
  •  CMAX - maximum value in the column
  •  CAPPI - constant altitude PPI (a horizontal cross-section of data at constant altitude)
  •  Wind products
  • Rain accumulation for any time period

   and others.

The Slovak radar composite information is created every 10 minutes in the Radar and Satellite Department at Malý Javorník.

 

 

Range 100 km of the weather radar in the Slovak weather radar network.

 

Radius 100 km - radar blockage by orography.

 

Kojšovská hoľa

   Malý Javorník