LUT scanning entomological radar in the Gezira irrigation area, Sudan, October 1974. The trailer and turngear were from an anti-aircraft gun-laying radar, and the X-band transceiver was a marine unit from AEI. The Gezira observations were supported by AARU. Three very similar radars were produced by LUT: one for use by DLCOEA in Ethiopia (1970), one for use with CSIRO in New South Wales, Australia (1971), and the last for use with CFS in New Brunswick, Canada (1973). The pictured radar was first operated in the Gezira in 1971.

CFS/LUT scanning entomological radar, near Renous, New Brunswick, Canada, July 1974. The vehicle was an ex-British Army ambulance, the antenna and turngear came from an anti-aircraft gun-laying radar, and the X-band transceiver was a marine unit from Decca. This unit was commissioned in 1974; a trailer-mounted radar had already been taken to New Brunswick the previous year (see above). Observations were made during the spruce budworm moth-flight seasons of 1974, 1975, and 1976, with the two radars being operated simultaneously at different locations in the first two of these three years.

JAAS Entomological Radar, near Gongzhuling, Jilin province, China, June 1986. Photo Alistair Drake. The vehicle and antenna system are an adaptation of a "Type 711" used by the Chinese Meteorological Agency; the transceiver is an X-band marine unit of Japanese origin (JRC).

CAAS Entomological Radar, Beijing, China, 1999. Photo Dengfa Cheng. As with the JAAS Entomological Radar, this unit combines a Japanese X-band marine transceiver and display (Anritsu) with a vehicle and antenna system built in China (also Type 711, from Wuxi Haixing Radar Company near Nanjing).

CHILL (University of Chicago/Illinois State Water Survey) dual-polarization Doppler Radar, near Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, USA, June 1985. Photo Alistair Drake. The antenna is located inside the inflatable radome (right), the electronics and data-acquisition equipment in the cabins (left). The radar is transportable and has been operated at many other locations; it has been used for insect studies by INHS/ISWSand Gary Achtemeier. [Note: the CHILL radar has passed to Colorado State University, where it is operated by the Radar Meteorology group in the Department of Atmospheric Science.]

CSIRO Entomological Radar (mark 2), near Trangie, New South Wales, Australia, ca. 1980. Photo Alistair Drake. This unit was commissioned in 1976 and saw considerable service in northern and eastern Australia over the next 10 years. Note: the mark 1 CSIRO entomological radar was similar to the LUT trailer-mounted unit pictured above. It was used between 1971 and 1977.

CSIRO Entomological Radar (mark 3) pedestal, near Jugiong, New South Wales, Australia, October 1989. Photo Alistair Drake. The radar was being used in a study of honeybee foraging flights and drone congregation areas. This pedestal was commissioned in 1986 and last used in February 1991.

CSIRO Entomological Radar (mark 3) pedestal and observation cabin, near Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, November 1990. Photo Alistair Drake. The radar was being used in a study of Helicoverpa (heliothis) moth movement over cotton and adjacent crops. Ownership of this unit was transferred to ASoP in 1998. The cabin and transceiver currently form part of an Insect Monitoring Radar installation operating at Bourke N.S.W.; the pedestal is in storage.

CSIRO Entomological Radar (mark 3) observation cabin interior, December 1990. Photo Alistair Drake. The PPI (Decca) and digital displays (date, time, etc.) are at left, various control units are in the centre, and the A-scope and equipment for acquiring and recording echo modulations are at right. Other equipment in the cabin (not visible) included cameras for photographing the displays, the antenna driver unit, a radiosonde receiver, and communications transceivers. The X-band transceiver was located in the antenna pedestal.

USDA-ARS scanning entomological radar, Tifton, Georgia, U.S.A., June 1985. This unit first operated in 1979 and, in upgraded form, continues in service. It is now based with APMRU at College Station, Texas and participated in the 1996 APMRU campaigns. The caravan and turngear are from an anti-aircraft fire-control radar, the X-band transceiver is a marine unit from Decca. Photo Alistair Drake.

Photos of the display of this radar, showing insect targets, are available on APMRU's home page.

USDA-ARS Ship-borne entomological radar. This radar detected insects near the center of the Gulf of Mexico during October 1982 and April-May 1983. The radar was installed on NOAA's Oregon II which is based at NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Center, Pascagoula, Mississippi. Photo: Wayne Wolf.

Additional photos of USDA-ARS radars are available below and on APMRU's home page.

NRIRU Q-band (8.8-mm wavelength) scanning entomological radar pedestal, Jiangpu, Jiangsu province, China, September 1988. The NRIRU X-band radar pedestal is visible at rear. Photo Don Reynolds. The radar was being used in a study of brown planthopper (BPH) migration. BPH is a major pest of rice throughout east Asia.

Prototype NRIRU Vertical-looking Radar, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, January 1991. Photo Alistair Drake. This field trial of the VLR was carried out in conjunction with CSIRO and ASoP.

  NRIRU Vertical-looking Radar, Akjoujt, Mauritania, September-October 1993. Photo Don Reynolds. The radar was being used to study desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria).

 Prototype NRIRU Harmonic Scanning Radar during preliminary trials at Pershore, Worcestershire, U.K., 1994. Entomological observations (of diode-tagged honeybees and bumblebees, at Harpenden, Hertfordshire, U.K.) followed in the summers of 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. Photo: Joe Riley.

ASoP Insect-Monitoring Radar at Thargomindah, Queensland, Australia, August 1999. A second ASoP IMR is installed at Bourke, NSW, about 300 km to the southeast. Both radars operate throughout every night, monitoring overflying insects - especially Australian Plague Locusts Chortoicetes terminifera and Native Budworms Helicoverpa punctigera - at altitudes up to about 1200 m. Photo Alistair Drake.

NRIRU Vertical-looking Radar (and Dr Jason Chapman) at IACR, Harpenden, England, summer 1999. A second VLR is installed at NRIRU's base in Malvern, about 150 km to the northwest. Both radars operate continuously, monitoring overflying insects at altitudes up to about 1 km, both by day and by night. Photo Ian Woiwod.

ASoP Mobile Insect-Monitoring Radar on test near Canberra, Australia, April 2002. The radar's electronics can be housed in a vehicle, as shown here, or in a tent. This unit made its first field observations, at four sites between the permanently-installed IMRs at Bourke (NSW) and Thargomindah (Qld), later the same month. Photo Tim Dean.

APMRU Vertical-looking Radar and sodar, Seguin, Texas, USA, August 1996. The white acoustic shields of the sodar are at the left-hand end of the trailer, the electronics enclosure is in the middle, and the electromagnetic shield of the VLR is at right. Photo Ian Harman.

APMRU Scanning Entomological Radar and "step van", Seguin, Texas, USA, August 1996. This is the original USDA-ARS entomological radar (see above), developed by WCRL/IBPMRL. The step van hauls the radar trailer and also serves as a mobile meteorological laboratory and workshop. Photo Ian Harman.

APMRU's second Scanning Entomological Radar, Seguin, Texas, USA, August 1996. This unit was developed by PCERU/CIPMRU in College Station, Texas, in the mid-1980s. Photo Ian Harman.

APMRU Tracking Entomological Radar, Seguin, Texas, USA, August 1996. This unit was developed by PCERU/CIPMRU in College Station, Texas, in the early-1990s. Photo Ian Harman.

ASoP Insect-Monitoring Radar, Seguin, Texas, USA, August 1996. Photo Ian Harman. The IMR was mounted on an APMRU trailer and fitted with a generator.

Additional photos of ASoP's Insect-Monitoring Radars are available on ASoP's pages.

A photo of the US Army Research Laboratory's FM/CW vertical-looking radar (which detects insects very effectively) is available on the APMRU Entomological Radar Studies pages. A photo of the display of this radar, showing insect targets, is also available.