Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced that it will contribute to better understanding of weather conditions in Taiwan by providing the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau with an S-band weather radar system with an antenna in the world’s largest class, for installation in Chigu district, Tainan city. The system, to be delivered by Toshiba with High Bound Co., Ltd, a Taiwanese engineering company, under an order received from GECI GROUP (GECI), Spanish system integration and high-technology company, will have a range of approx. 400km, and will support high resolution imaging of precipitation and wind velocity, essential for accurate, pinpoint weather forecasting. Toshiba, High Bound and GECI will deliver the system in 2019.

The western Pacific, long known as Typhoon Alley, is home to some of the world’s strongest tropical cyclones, including the strongest ever recorded, Typhoon Tip. Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons, such as Nepartak, which made landfall in July 2016, causing extensive damage and claiming three lives. As a mountainous island where torrential rains can quickly result in landslides and flooding, Taiwan must be constantly ready to deal with the risk of such disasters, and deployment of Toshiba’s S-band radar will make a major contribution to the island’s state of readiness.

The radar system adopts dual polarization and Toshiba’s state-of-the-art microwave transistors to deliver wide area observation, and achieves high level observation capabilities and accuracy. The system also integrates several redundant microwave transistors to maintain operation if some cease operation. Toshiba received the order following GECI’s technical review and price evaluating.

Masaki Haruyama, Vice President of the Defense & Electronic Systems Div. in Toshiba’s Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Company said, “We are very pleased to have received our first order for a weather radar system for Taiwan. We are confident the system will contribute to advancing weather observation capabilities and the provision of timely, reliable forecasts.”

In addition to S-band weather radars for wide-area observations, Toshiba also develops and delivers X-band dual polarization transportable Doppler weather radar systems for more localized monitoring. The company is focused on expanding sales of these systems in countries where severe weather is a source of concern and disaster prevention systems are needed, including India and Southeast Asia region.

About Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company, channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and electrical product and systems into three focus business fields: Energy that sustains everyday life, that is cleaner and safer; Infrastructure that sustains quality of life; and Storage that sustains the advanced information society. Guided by the principles of The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future”, Toshiba promotes global operations and is contributing to the realization of a world where generations to come can live better lives.

Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today’s Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of 551 consolidated companies employing 188,000 people worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 5.6 trillion yen (US$50 billion). (As of March 31, 2016.)
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