On March 5, the first of two planned weather radars for the AgroHyd-X joint project was successfully installed on an existing radio tower near Wünsdorf in Brandenburg. The system is based on a modern FURUNO X-band radar, which is specifically designed for high-resolution precipitation monitoring in agricultural regions. With the installation in Wünsdorf, a central component of the Brandenburg-wide measurement network is taking shape.

AgroHyd-X investigates how precipitation can be recorded with high temporal and spatial resolution and how this information can be utilized for efficient, site-specific agriculture. With appropriate data processing, the X-band radars used in the project enable the precise detection of small-scale precipitation events with a resolution of 100 × 100 meters. This reveals patterns that could not previously be adequately captured by traditional monitoring networks or large-scale weather radars.

AgroHyd-X runs from July 2024 to June 2028 and is part of Brandenburg’s innovation strategy (innoBB 2025). The project is jointly coordinated by the GFZ and the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB). The project lead at the GFZ is Dipl.-Geol. Nicole Köllner (Section 1.4 | Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics).

The Wünsdorf site was selected due to its suitable topographical location and existing infrastructure. By mounting the radar on the radio tower, it provides an unobstructed field of view, which is crucial for reliably detecting local precipitation cells. The installation also marks the starting point for the subsequent calibration, testing phase, and integration into the project-wide data processing chain.

In the future, the collected data will be made publicly and freely available in real time via a user-friendly web application. The application is specifically made to meet the needs of agricultural practice and is designed to enable farms to make management decisions, such as those regarding irrigation, tillage, or harvest windows, with even greater precision and in a more resource-efficient manner.

With the installation of the radar in Wünsdorf, AgroHyd-X is taking another step toward its goal of establishing an innovative, regional precipitation monitoring system for Brandenburg and thereby contributing to climate-adapted, data-driven management strategies.