Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Some time ago, a photo of a weather radar image from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) went viral on social media which showed that the Yogyakarta sky was ‘hollow’ so it was not experiencing rain.
“The God of Heaven is sensitive to Jogja,” joked one netizen
“The sky in Jogja is hollow this afternoon Panase poll (scorching hot) Uncle,” said another netizen.
Quoting from the official BMKG upload on Instagram (@infobmkg), a photo of a radar image showing a ‘hollow’ sky in Yogyakarta is called the “Cone of Silence” phenomenon. According to BMKG, this phenomenon occurred due to radar being unable to observe the weather thoroughly due to limited equipment capabilities.
Generally, radar does not scan (scanning) up to an elevation of 90 degrees or perpendicular so that there is an area that cannot be observed or “Cone of Silence” in the weather radar image.
Meanwhile, scanning Radar is usually carried out from an elevation of 0.5 to 19.5 degrees. This elevation is only able to detect medium clouds up to a radius of approximately 20 km from the radar center. Therefore, the part near the radar looks ‘hollow’, aka forming a circle.
“From the results of the BMKG analysis, it can be seen that in the empty circle area in Yogyakarta this occurred because the radar did not observe it straight up, even though there were quite thick medium clouds above it,” explained BMKG, Wednesday (8/11/2023).
“This is in accordance with the “Cone of Silence” theory so that the radar can only detect medium clouds up to a radius of approximately 20 km from the radar center,” continued the BMKG explanation.
For information, weather radar works by releasing pulse signals in the form of electromagnetic waves of a microwave frequency into the atmosphere. When the pulse signal reaches a target in the atmosphere, part of the pulse signal will be reflected back to the radar receiving system.
“The energy received by the radar is then analyzed by a computer to determine location, rain intensity and other information, such as wind direction and speed,” explained BMKG.
“All the information is then mapped on the computer in the form of images,” continued the explanation.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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