Koto Tabang GAW Observatory

 research  Add category

 Upload a photo

This is the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) observatory of the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG). The array in the center is the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR), built with assistance from Japan, which sends radar pulses vertically to measure the wind speed above the station as high as the stratosphere and beyond.

It is important to understand the wind in the upper air over the tropical Pacific because every few years an El Nino develops, which causes a drought in most of southeastern Asia and flooding in the deserts of coastal South America, with other weather changes in many other areas of the world. With a better knowledge of upper air winds (as well as ocean currents), we hope to be able to improve forecasting of unusual wet and dry periods.