IMD plans to set up 33 more radars in two years to improve weather forecast quality

The India Meteorological Department plans to set up 33 new radars within the next two years to further improve its forecasting quality and give alerts on dangerous cloud formation that often leads to fatalities in the hills.

The list covers four Doppler radars in northwest Himalayas, including one at Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir, which if operational, could have saved the lives of 16 individuals who were killed in a cloudburst near the holy cave of Amarnath last month.

The Banihal radar was to be operational by June 30, but it did not happen. The radar is currently undergoing tests and is likely to be ready shortly. Two more such radars will come up in Himachal Pradesh and the IMD is in talks with the Indian Army for installing a fourth one in the cantonment town of Lansdowne in Uttarakhand.

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These are part of a 67-radar network that the IMD would establish by 2025. “This includes 8 more radars for the North East (currently the region has three), 11 for the plains and five for metro cities as per the government’s urban weather programme. The tenders for the 8 radars for the Northeast and 11 for the plains are in process,” IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told DH.

For a country of India’s size, a dense network of radar and other instruments are required to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting. The US met office, for instance, operates 130 radars.

“The hill-top radars in western Himalayas are capable of scanning convective clouds (such clouds lead to thunderstorm, lightning and rainfall) up to a distance of 100 km with a resolution of 350 mt. With such a network, we have a better chance of detecting the occurrence of convective clouds.”

A dense radar network would not only also improve the accuracy of nowcasting (three-hour forecast), but would also allow the IMD to provide such a service at more locations.

The met office began nowcasting in 2013 at 120 sites, but expanded the network over the years to provide such a service at 1,116 locations at the moment.

Other instruments that the IMD plans to install are wind profilers in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation, microwave radiometer and LIDAR (light detection and ranging) equipment. “Within the next five years, each household would be provided early warning of extreme weather,” Mohapatra said.