José Maria Costa, Secretary of State for the Sea, inaugurated this Wednesday, January 10th, a new dual polarization meteorological radar, in Cavalos (Ameixial), on the edge of the EN2, in the interior of the municipality of Loulé. With this equipment, the country is already «in the 1st League of atmospheric monitoring in Europe».
The radar, several meters high and 8 floors, replaces the previous one, which was obsolete.
This commitment to modernizing the infrastructures of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) «will make it possible to provide more reliable data, with more than twice the quality, resolution and speed of information than what the institute was previously able to provide to society» , says the Loulé Chamber.
The equipment is double polarized, a new technology that makes it possible to have a clearer idea of the type of humidity in the atmosphere and the probability of snow, hail or other extreme phenomena.
«We entered the 1st League of atmospheric monitoring in Europe. We were on the way and now we are there!”, guaranteed Telmo Carvalho, representative of the IPMA board.
With the new equipment, which has a range of action of 300 kilometers, «IPMA is now better prepared to provide the information that is requested daily, without having any type of technological limitations, as was the case until now».
Despite everything, Telmo Carvalho noted that the Institute has disseminated this information «in a timely and timely manner», recalling «the good collaboration» that has occurred in recent years with civil protection, with regard to meteorological warnings.
The population and the agroforestry sector are those who will benefit from this equipment and also from the “supercomputer” installed at the IPMA headquarters that receives data from these radars and meteorological stations, making it possible, from now on, to quickly process the information and a much more specific level.
«We were providing information at the district level and now we are able to provide information within a radius of 2,5 km, which completely changes the importance of this information for agriculture and forestry management», explained the head of the institute.
The two radars, which are already in operation (the other is in Coruche), meant an investment of 2,8 million euros. An investment was also made in new meteorological stations in the country, which totaled «another tens of thousands of euros».
For Secretary of State José Maria Costa, both the Loulé and Coruche radars constitute equipment that will allow «to have more capacity, more resolution, more muscle and more qualified information».
«This investment by IPMA is something that we, Louléans, can only make us happy», said Vítor Aleixo, president of Loulé Chamber
In addition to this radar, Loulé City Council is in charge of five meteorological stations: Vale Maria Dias, Alte, Loulé (one in the Civil Protection Service and another in the Municipal Fire Station) and in Quarteira. This network will be densified with two more pieces of equipment that will be installed as part of the interior digitalization program.
«We are here to collaborate and also to learn more and more about this reality of collecting data, knowing what is happening, predicting why those who predict avoid damage, human and environmental», concluded the mayor of Loulé.
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