DOST-Pagasa in advanced talks with JICA for 3 Doppler radars

MANILA, Philippines — Officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are in advanced discussions with the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-Pagasa) regarding the upgrade of the weather bureau’s three aged radar systems. Pagasa chief Prisco Nilo and JICA Basic Design Study Team leader Toshiyuki Iwama said under the project, existing radar facilities will be replaced with state-of-the-art Doppler radar systems. Nilo said Pagasa has only five working radars at present located in Aparri, Cagayan; Baguio City; Baler, Quezon; Virac, Catanduanes; and Guiuan, Eastern Samar with capabilities limited to detection and monitoring of tropical cyclones forming in the Pacific Ocean. The ones in Aparri, Virac and Guiuan, all acquired from Japan, are now being eyed for upgrading to enable Pagasa to provide advisory on rainfall volume and wind velocity, Nilo said. He said these are separate from the five Doppler radars now in the pipeline that are being funded by the national government under the 2005 and 2007 General Appropriations Acts and the 2007 calamity funds. “We need something like 12 of these radars to fully cover our territory. Hopefully, we can achieve this by early 2010 or 2011," Nilo said. Contrary to claims of lawmakers that Pagasa might have been able to prevent the MV “Princess of the Stars" tragedy had the agency immediately purchased and installed a Doppler radar when the initial funding of P149.14 million was appropriated in the 2005 GAA, the Pagasa director said it will take two-and-a-half years before the upgraded radar systems would become fully operational from the date of formal signing, design, delivery and installation. Iwama seconded Nilo’s remark. “This is not something you can just buy in the market and put up. In Japan, it took all of 13 years to put it in full operation. You can’t expect your Pagasa to put this up tomorrow," he said.. He explained that the installation of the radar system needs careful planning to maximize its usefulness. Likewise, he pointed out that the people who will run the facility will have to acquire extensive training for operations and maintenance. Once in place, Nilo said the agency will be able to provide ‘faster and more accurate’ weather updates. He said the radar upgrades and acquisition of new radar facilities will complement Pagasa’s program on the full automation of its monitoring, evaluation and dissemination processes. At the moment, Pagasa can provide weather bulletins only at six-hour intervals but once the radars and automated systems are fully operational, the agency will be able to perform at par with three-hourly bulletins of its Japanese counterpart. Pagasa submitted its project proposal for the upgrade way back in May 2006 and JICA has so far sent two teams of experts and consultants to evaluate the project in November 2007 and last June 2008. “The existing network of weather surveillance radars of Pagasa were acquired and installed about 20 years ago that already exceeded their life span and some parts are now defective. The Doppler radars will definitely improve the public service delivery of the DOST-Pagasa," the weather agency said in its statement. - GMA