The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : IMD to set up Doppler radars in State for better forecasts

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Tuesday, Jun 28, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

IMD to set up Doppler radars in State for better forecasts

Staff Reporter

55 radars to be installed within a year, says Ajit Tyagi

The radars have the capacity to predict more accurate weather patterns
‘Twenty of the DWRs are ready to be deployed'

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Better monitoring:Director-General of Meteorology, IMD, Ajit Tyagi (second from right) and other dignitaries at the release of a book at the users' meet on weather services in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: Even as the spectre of climate change looms large auguring an increased incidence of extreme weather conditions, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has set about putting in place a more efficient weather monitoring system in Karnataka.

A state-of-the-art Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) system will soon give the State the capacity to predict more accurately thunderstorms, cyclones, cloudbursts and other fast-developing weather systems, Director-General of Meteorology, IMD, Ajit Tyagi has said.

The DWR will be introduced in two phases in Karnataka, Mr. Tyagi told presspersons on the sidelines of a users' meet on ‘Weather Services to Karnataka delivered by India Meteorological Department'.

The DWRs are more sophisticated than the conventional radars that Karnataka uses at present, said Mr. Tyagi. The radars will detect the intensity and speed of weather systems, including turbulence or wind speed, and can therefore predict thundershowers, cyclones and other extreme weather conditions quickly and accurately, he said. A total of 55 DWR will be installed in the State within the span of a year, he said and added that of these, 20 are “ready” to be deployed. The radars have been developed in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation. IMD is also working with the ISRO on instrumentation for forthcoming satellites, Mr. Tyagi added.

Speaking on the need for efficient weather warning systems for farmers, Mr. Tyagi said that an SMS service launched by the IMD now has 20 lakh subscribers from the farming community from across the country.

Naveen Kumar, Managing Director of the Karnataka Power Company; K.S. Prabhakara, Secretary, State Revenue Department (Disaster Management) and N.C. Muniyappa, Principal Secretary, Karnataka Tourism Department, spoke at the meet organised by the IMD.

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