Karnataka - Madikeri   

ISRO to set up 10 more automatic weather stations in Kodagu

Making a point: Manikiam from ISRO addressing presspersons in Madikeri on Tuesday. Kitty Devaiah, president of the Kodagu Technology Users’ Association, is seen.

Madikeri: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will set up 10 more automatic weather stations (AWS) in Kodagu in three months, Deputy Director of Atmospheric Science Programme of ISRO Manikiam said on Tuesday.

He was addressing presspersons here. Good quality weather updates were being gathered from the existing 15 automatic weather stations. Weather forecast three days in advance would be provided to farmers and coffee growers in the district after “fine tuning” weather information. The services would be available within a year through the newly formed Kodagu Technology Users’ Association headed by Kitty Devaiah, Dr. Manikiam said.

ISRO had established 825 automatic weather stations across the country.

A balloon-based technology, GPS-SONDE, had been developed by ISRO in which a sensor-fitted balloon-like object would go up to 30 km and transmit data pertaining to various parameters of weather, Dr. Manikiam said.

Besides, ISRO had provided technology to manufacture 50 Doppler Weather Radars (DWR), each worth Rs. 12 crore.

The imported DWR would cost up to Rs. 17 crore and there would be no continuity of maintenance after a couple of years. Five DWRs had been readied by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore. Two of the DWRs would be installed in the Himalayan region, two in the north eastern region and one in any of the southern States, he said.

Dr. Manikiam said that ISRO had chosen Kodagu for setting up AWS considering the importance of monsoon in this region.

Any variation in the monsoon pattern in Kodagu was bound to affect rainfall in other regions of the State. Weather forecasts expected to be made three days in advance in future, thanks to the AWS, would have up to 90 per cent accuracy for the first two days on data such as heavy rainfall, good weather, when to take up sowing or coffee picking or drying.

He said ISRO had set up tele-education in six rural schools in Kodagu and they were functioning well. Five more schools would be covered soon under the tele-education programme in the district. The Rural India Health Project (RIHP) at Ammathi in Kodagu had been provided telemedicine facility. One more hospital in Madikeri could be covered under the telemedicine facility soon, he added.

Ms. Devaiah said that the office would be located at Madapur. It would pass information gathered on weather to the needy, including the general public. Honorary secretary of the association M.B. Bopanna said weather information would be passed on to the people through media, Internet and mobile phones.

Adviser to ISRO S.K. Das and Jagdish, a scientist from ISRO, were present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

ISRO to set up 10 more automatic weather stations in Kodagu
Football league from December 5
Farmers urged to take up organic farming
Poll notification

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu