As severe hyperlocal weather events, including heavy precipitation and urban flooding, increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change, cities need more accurate weather monitoring systems to protect their communities. By 2050, more than 800 million urban residents will face a direct risk from climate-related flooding events, yet national weather radar networks often lack the coverage and resolution needed for effective city-level precipitation monitoring.

To fill this critical weather monitoring gap, the Vaisala X-band Weather Radar WRS400 equips urban decision-makers to enhance severe weather preparedness through precise and reliable localized monitoring capabilities. The WRS400 weather radars provide exceptional precipitation detail and movement close to the ground, empowering emergency response organizations to share timely warnings with impacted communities and keep residents safe, even during the most dangerous storms.

“Too many cities around the globe around the globe fight on the front lines of climate change, facing more intense weather events — like heavy rainfall and storms that can overwhelm existing urban infrastructure and cause flooding within minutes,” said Kanang Sivula, Head of Urban Resilience at Vaisala. “Our compact weather radar technology is designed for easy deployment and maintenance, making it more accessible to individual cities, environmental agencies, and emergency responders. Our proven X-band weather radars deliver the granular, real-time data, and effective nowcasting that decision-makers need to help protect residents from these increasingly unpredictable weather events.”

Hyperlocal Weather Insights Boost Hydrological Preparedness in Rio de Janeiro

Faced with recurring severe weather events causing inundations and landslides, the city of Rio de Janeiro embraced this weather radar technology to enhance urban resilience. The city’s operational center, a hub coordinating 30 municipal departments, recently installed a Vaisala X-band weather radar for real-time localized monitoring to improve storm tracking and flood alerts.

The new radar technology fills the gaps left by the earlier deployed C-band radar, enabling measurements in areas where the radar beam was previously blocked by mountains. Advanced features, like high resolution, allow for more accurate analysis of localized weather events. Dual polarization performance improves the quality of rainfall estimation, detects precipitation types, and enhances overall data quality. Together, these features ensure that the operation center receives the best possible information on heavy rain fronts and other weather events.

With Vaisala X-band weather radar, Rio can better safeguard its greater metropolitan area’s estimated 12 million residents against flash floods and landslides, which is especially relevant during the long periods of heavy rain between December and March.

Key Features of Vaisala X-Band Weather Radar WRS400:

1. Hyperlocal weather detection: The hydrological surveillance radar delivers detailed storm system data, including the exact path, precipitation levels, precipitation type, ground-level amounts, and ground-level disturbances like microbursts and tornadoes.

2. Real-time monitoring: The WRS400 features rapid cycle updates every few minutes and internal redundancies to improve system maintainability and reliability.

3. Comprehensive coverage: Vaisala’s X-band radar solution can be easily integrated into radar networks, helping fill gaps across large urban areas.

4. Advanced warning capabilities: Radar-derived data improves the accuracy of forecasting models and can help predict the severity of storms, providing critical lead time on storms.

5. High data quality and availability: Independent solid-state transmitters offer excellent accuracy and sensitivity, allowing the WRS400 to deliver more precise, higher-resolution weather information.

6. Easy installation and service: The radar’s compact, solid-state design, plug-and-play installation, and easy integration into radar networks simplify site selection and maintenance, getting local agencies up and running within a week. Offering unprecedented ease of use and reliability, the radar makes sophisticated weather monitoring feasible for a broader range of local organizations, from municipal governments to environmental agencies.

For more information about how Vaisala’s weather radars help communities gain a deeper connection to their environment, visit vaisala.com/en/industries-applications/energy-urban-industries.