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| The rain radar on Mt. Yebong in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, is the latest addition to the country's rain radar network. Courtesy of Ministry of Environment |
By Ko Dong-hwan
With the 22.5 billion won ($18.8 million), 40 meter-high rain radar completed on Mt. Yebong in the Gyeonggi provincial city of Namyangju last June, the country's "complete" nationwide rain radar network is now online, ready to forecast floods that frequently occur in summer.
The network consists of seven large rain radars in the provinces of North Gyeongsang, North and South Chungcheong, South Jeolla, Gangwon, Gyeonggi and the city of Incheon. The earliest was built in 2001 on Incheon's Ganghwa Island; the latest on Mt. Yebong began operation last October.
Before the addition of the Mt. Yebong radar to the network, the atmosphere above Seoul and surrounding metropolitan areas in Gyeonggi Province were "basically left unchecked," Hwang Chun-cho, the Ministry of Environment's Water Resources Management Division official, told The Korea Times.
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The latest dual-polarization radar operates at 2,791 megahertz (MHz) and has a maximum output of 750 kilowatts (kW). It is so accurate it can calculate "even the size of a raindrop," according to the ministry
Vice-Minister of environment Hong Jeong-kee visited the Mt. Yebong radar on June 9 after the ministry ordered the network to forecast and prepare for regional flash floods and urban inundations that frequently occur during the monsoon period from May to October.
Each radar now covers a 100-kilometer circular range, but the ministry said it will trial a 525-km range in the Nakdong River region through North and South Gyeongsang provinces. Full-fledged nationwide scanning begins next year.
The ministry also plans to introduce a central command center to oversee the radar network that separate local authorities now control, according to Hwang.
