Life-Saving Radar Station
October 7th, 2007 at 6:32 am (Mini Museums)
Drive-Israel.com for Explorer Tourists
The radar station at the top of the hill, next to the Latrun Tank Museum, can be seen for miles around. Overlooking the Ayala Valley, and with a clear view to the Jerusalem skyline, the singular green ball overlooks a man-made reservoir and Mini Israel.
Dr. Leonid Dinevich, of the Zoology Institute of Tel Aviv University, explained that the mobile radar MRL-5 was brought from Moldavia in the former Soviet Union. Originally developed as a meteorological radar station, the MRL-5 is being used to detect flying birds.
Israel, a midway point on the bird migration route, hosts over 7 million birds each autumn and spring, as they traverse the earth. Israel’s centrality on the bird migration route has brought ornithologists from around the world to Israel’s birding centers. But it has also proven to be a hazard that Israel is learning to cope with. Farmers whose fields have become feeding grounds for masses of migrating birds have learned to cope, and even to turn the area into an attraction.
In response to the conflict between aviation and nature and to ensure safety in air flights, Dr. Yossi Leshem, Director of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration, Latrun, and Dr. Dinevich, are developing radar detection methods using the MRL-5 meteorological radar station. Unlike aerodrome radars, MRL-5 — originally intended is able to determine the location of birds, including their flying altitudes. The computerized radar system they developed enables 24 hour automated observation of flying birds. Based on the differing movements of birds during migration, Leshem and Dinevich developed a method to differentiate and determine bird type — critical information for airflight controllers and pilots.
But a more serious problem are birds getting in the way of airplane routes, both military and civilian. In August 1995, three migrating storks flew into an F-15 Falcon fighter plane, causing the plane to crash and killing both the pilot and captain.
The radar center at Latrun has two wave lengths which allows it to detect a stork-sized bird from a distance of 80 km, as well as clouds up to 300 km. Used as tool by both air tower operators at Ben Gurion Airport and the Israel Air Force, the radar station
plays an important role in air safety.
Where: Behind Latrun Tank Museum, Rte 3
