IMD scouting for land to set up wind profiler radars in Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram under ‘Mission Mausam’
Radar systems proposed as part of Union govt’s initiative under Ministry of Earth Sciences
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is searching for suitable land in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to install wind profiler radars under the government’s ‘Mission Mausam’ initiative, launched in 2024. This initiative aims to significantly improve the country’s weather and climate observations, modelling, forecasting, and services, making India more weather-ready and climate-smart.
Wind profilers are devices that use radars, sound waves, or lasers to measure wind speed and direction at various elevations up to the troposphere, which ranges between 8 km and 17 km above mean sea level. The data collected by these radars is crucial for understanding monsoon onset, strengthening, weakening, and withdrawal, as well as identifying wind turbulence, atmospheric disturbances, and thunderstorms. The radar systems are expected to provide data every 15 minutes.
Neetha K. Gopal, Director of IMD Keralam, reveals that around 1.5 acres of land will be needed in Kozhikode and one acre in Thiruvananthapuram for the installation. Thiruvananthapuram is considered the primary entry point for the southwest monsoon in Kerala, while Kozhikode was chosen due to its high monsoon rainfall. The IMD has officially communicated to the State government regarding the land allocation.
Talks are ongoing with various government departments and universities. Interestingly, a wind profiler radar is already in operation at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), which is the first stratosphere-troposphere wind profile radar operating on 205 MHz globally.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
